PremiumIt is quite evident that the auto industry is witnessing the biggest revolution in motoring since Henry Ford's first production line started turning back in 1913.
Electric Vehicle adoption has progressed in the past decade. As per the World Economic Forum report in collaboration with Statista, global electric vehicle sales have risen 30% almost every year of the past decade.
Despite difficult circumstances and the Covid pandemic's negative impact on the automotive industry, electric vehicles made a giant leap forward in many countries in 2020.
According to estimates from industry tracker EV-Volumes, plug-in electric vehicles accounted for 4.2% of global light vehicle sales last year, up from 2.5% in 2019.
As many as 13 countries managed to push electric vehicles past 10% of new light-vehicle sales in 2020.
Norway continued to stay on the top-most spot with a 75% share of plug-in electric vehicles, while Iceland, Sweden, and Finland also featured in the top 5. In Norway, an electric car owner is exempted from paying road tax or sales tax.
China, which is by far the largest market for electric cars in terms of unit sales, fell out of the top-10 with electric cars accounting for 6.2% of passenger car sales in the country.
Meanwhile, the US fell further behind with an EV share of just 2.3%.
According to WEF analytics, Norway's highest share of plug-in EVs is because of policies like--tax exemptions, toll exemptions, and other incentives. Norway has more electric vehicles per capita than any other country.
The Nordic country imposes hefty vehicle import duties and car registration taxes, making cars significantly more expensive than the US.
On the other hand, New Zealand has said that it would give $8,625 off a new electric car, or $3,450 off on a used electric car, to promote the trend of EVs in the country. Germany has also said that it would subsidise electric cars by up to 9,000 euros.
List of countries with the highest share of plug-in electric vehicles in new passenger car sales in 2020:
1. Norway (74.8%)
2. Iceland (45%)
3. Sweden (32.2%)
4. Netherlands (24.9%)
5. Finland (18.1%)
6. Denmark (16.4%)
7. Switzerland (14.3%)
8. Portugal (13.5%)
9. Germany (13.5%)
10. Luxembourg (11.4%)
11. France (11.3%)
12. Belgium (10.7%)
13. UK (10.7%)
14. Austria (9.5%)
15. Ireland (7.4%)
16. China (6.2%)
17. US (2.3%)
Meanwhile, in India, several state governments and automakers have come forward to boost electric vehicle culture in India.
According to the minister of state for heavy industries Krishan Pal Gurjar, a total of 1,590 electric vehicles (EVs) have been deployed in 160 central and state ministries and departments across 49 cities.
In fact, the government is reportedly considering slashing import duties on electric cars to as low as 40% from 60% presently.
