EVs sold in unprecedented numbers in 2022, reflecting a growing trend that is good news for the planet.
Obviously, I am referring to fully electric cars, not the hybrid fakes manufacturers continue making so they can profit from their polluting technology, and which some governments incentivize, ignoring the fact that hybrids mostly run on their internal combustion engines; they should be prosecuted for misleading advertising.
How has the world evolved in 2022? Sales of electric vehicles have exploded with more than ten and a half million units, a growth of 60%. Of course, this is still small compared to the more than 65 million units sold in total in the world, but we must frame this tremendous growth within the context of a global downturn in car sales.
Electric vehicles now account for more than 13% of the total world market, among them some of the world’s largest, such as Germany, the United Kingdom, France and, above all, China, the world’s biggest and where, for some time now, electric vehicles have not been the future but the present: one in four vehicles sold is electric, and sales have doubled in one year.
This growth has meant a saving of 1.7 million barrels of oil, a 3.8% drop in demand, and above all, a saving of 150 million tons of poisonous emissions. Cars are not responsible for all fossil fuel consumption, but they still make a huge contribution to air pollution, simply because there are so many of them. EVs are not going to be the long-term solution to our problems, but it’s going to take a generation before we stop seeing cars as consumer products.
More electric vehicles are sold in China than in the rest of the world combined. This is good news for everyone, but a major danger for traditional car companies that are still moving too slowly and could see their markets flooded with Chinese-made EVs.
Understanding the consequences of the reinvention of the automotive industry is crucial: on the one hand, in terms of health — one in five people in the world die prematurely from inhaling fossil fuel fumes — and on the other hand, because of the major economic and geopolitical consequences involved. Countries and companies that do not move in time will simply disappear in a relatively few years.
The U.S. is lagging behind China and Europe, but the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act by the Biden administration in 2022 promises to greatly improve things and significantly accelerate the introduction of electric vehicles.
Sales of electric vehicles are accelerating, mainly because of their wider availability and range: there are already more than 318 models, many with ranges in excess of 430km. In the models announced for 2023, the average is 580km. The old arguments about them leaving you stranded because you can’t find a charger. Batteries are getting cheaper and cheaper, lasting much longer than the life of the car, and are completely recycled to make more batteries.
In Spain, where I live, the figures do not lie, although the car industry does: EV sales grew by 31% in 2022 on the previous year, while diesels plummeted by 32% and gasoline cars by 10%. What is the response of the car industry employers’ association? Government subsidies! The solution is simple: if Spanish carmakers want to increase sales, they should offer more EVs. The market has spoken; if the Spanish automotive industry insists on not listening to, that’s its problem. In 2023, any aid for combustion or hybrid vehicles should be unthinkable.
Shifting to electric is absolutely fundamental. Rather than complaining about the price of EVs, we need to do the long-term math, taking into account that the price of electricity will continue to fall, and that they are much cheaper to maintain. At the same time, we need to set targets for the whole range: private cars are important, but delivery vans, buses or cabs, which are on the roads all day, have a bigger role to play in improving the quality of life in our cities.
The EV data speaks for itself. Time to start listening.
(En español, aquí)
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This post was previously published on MEDIUM.COM.
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