Here are the countries with the highest number of electric vehicles

Despite difficult circumstances and the pandemic's negative impact on the the automotive industry, electric vehicles made a giant leap forward in many countries in 2020.

Electric cars or electric vehicles have different environmental impacts compared to conventional internal combustion engine cars. While aspects of their production can induce similar, less or alternative environmental impacts, some models produce little or no emissions and some have the potential to reduce dependence on petroleum and greenhouse gas emissions, depending on the source of electricity used to charge them and health effects from air pollution

Despite difficult circumstances and the pandemic’s negative impact on the the automotive industry, electric vehicles made a giant leap forward in many countries in 2020. While just eight countries reported an EV share of 5 percent or higher in 2019, 13 countries managed to push electric vehicles past 10 percent of new light vehicle sales in 2020.

Like in prior years, Norway was a positive outlier with a 75-percent share of plug-in electric vehicles, while Iceland, Sweden and Finland also featured in the top 5 – a testament to the quick adoption of electric cars in Nordic countries.

China, which is by far the largest market for electric cars in terms of unit sales, fell out of the top 10 with electric vehicles accounting for 6.2 percent of passenger car sales in the country. Meanwhile the United States fell further behind with an EV share of just 2.3 percent.

For cleaner renewable sources

Electric vehicles (EVs) support transition away from fossil fuels and towards cleaner renewable sources of energy. Electric vehicles mean lower emissions of greenhouse gases and other air pollutants, and lower cost of vehicle ownership. They can also support increased renewable energy and the modernization of our electric power grid.

Greenhouse gas reductions

Electric vehicles support the transition to renewable energy. Even when charged with electricity from the grid, electric vehicles produce only a third of the greenhouse gas emissions that a gas vehicle would, due in large part to their high energy-efficiency.

Since electric vehicles are typically charged overnight, owners can work with their utility company to take advantage of time of use rates that charge consumers less for electricity when demand for energy is lower.

Electric vehicles have the potential to help balance the demand for energy with the time of day when the cleanest energy is being produced.

India scenario

India, the world’s fifth-largest auto market is also readying for a stupendous transformation: moving completely towards electric vehicles (EVs) by 2030. A signatory to the Paris climate agreement, India is obligated to bring down its share of global emissions by 2030.

Many of its cities are among the world’s most polluted, suffering utter degradation over the years, and vehicular pollution is one of the major causes for this.

• Electric vehicles accounted for 4.2% of light vehicle sales in 2020, almost double 2019’s 2.5%.

• Norway, Iceland and Sweden are leading the charge, with plug-in electric vehicles accounting for 74.8%, 45% and 32.2% respectively in 2020.

• Various policies have incentivised electric vehicle uptake in Norway – but might not translate well to other countries.

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