Electric car demand growing, global market hits 740,000 units

CleanTechnica

Demand for electric vehicles (EVs) is growing around the world fairly rapidly, according to new analysis from the Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research — with more than 320,000 new EV registrations in 2014, bringing the total global market up to 740,000 vehicles.

Alongside that, battery suppliers saw strong growth — with total revenue hitting €2 billion ($2.17 billion), according the German research company behind the analysis.

The majority of this somewhat rapid growth is the result of just a few companies leading the charge, so to speak — these companies are mostly the ones that you would guess: Nissan, Tesla, and Mitsubishi, amongst others.

Out of all the various regions of the world, the US in particular saw strong growth — with a growth rate of 69%, bringing total EV numbers up to 290,000 units in the country. What that means practically speaking is that roughly one in every three or so EVs in the world is on US roads.

China’s growth didn’t lag terribly far behind with regard to total numbers, with 54,000 new EVs registered there during 2014. That number actually represents a 120% growth rate, beating out the US — and bringing the total number of EVs in the country up to ~100,000. Japan was right up there as well, with a 45% growth rate, bringing total numbers up to ~110,000 units.

The new analysis makes note of the fact that all 3 countries had relatively supportive policies in place, and that these were partly responsible for the good growth rates. Countries without supportive policies — Germany, for instance — saw weaker growth.

The overall global market saw a growth rate of ~76%, according to the analysis — with overall EV registrations rising around 2-fold a year between 2012 and 2014.

“If the momentum of recent years continues unabated, the number of electric cars worldwide will exceed one million in just a few months,” noted the firm’s head of electrochemical energy technologies division, Werner Tillmetz. That’s something that seems likely considering the many soon-to-be-released, highly anticipated models.

Source: CleanTechnica. Reproduced with permission.