Electric Car Sales Reach All-Time High

A new analysis from an intergovernmental organization in Paris, France saw the sales of electric cars worldwide soar by more than 40% in 2020 – a trend most welcome for climate goals to be met.

“While they can’t do the job alone, electric vehicles have an indispensable role to play in reaching net-zero emissions worldwide,” says Dr. Faith Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA). “Governments should now be doing the essential groundwork to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles by using economic recovery packages to invest in battery manufacturing and the development of widespread and reliable charging infrastructure.”

The IEA compiled the numbers, and a total of 3 million new electric cars were registered in 2020. That’s a 41% increase from 2019, despite a decrease in total car sales of 16% from 2019 to 2020. The first quarter of 2021 is also looking positive as there are already two and half times more electric car sales than in the same period last year. To top it off, for the first time in history, Europe overtook China as the largest market for electric cars in 2020.