World EV Day: rivalry set aside for big picture focus

Electric vehicles (EVs) will play a key role in achieving upcoming fuel efficiency and emission standards, but only if consumers are willing to make the switch. Uptake has been much slower than expected. 2017 marked the first year that electrified vehicle sales exceeded a million units, and new records have been set consistently since then. Data from the International Energy Agency (IEA) show that 1.98 million EVs were sold in 2018, jumping to 2.1 million in 2019. Going by 2019 data, the IEA estimates that EVs currently account for about 2.6% of global car sales and about 1% of global car stock. While that represents a 40% year-on-year increase, the numbers are undeniably small.

This year, players across the EV value stream kicked things up a gear with an official World EV Day on 9 September.