The whole world is switching to EVs faster than we realise

And this rapid electrification is not expected to let up, especially in oil-importing countries.

- David Fickling

There's a comforting story that oil bulls like to tell themselves to stave off worries about the future: While the privileged few in Europe and California might have lost their minds over electric vehicles (EVs), billions of drivers in the Global South are readying themselves to provide the next wave of petroleum demand.

Those who believe this might want to have a look at the cars and two-wheelers that people are actually buying right now. Far from trailing the rich world in their enthusiasm for battery cars, developing nations are surging ahead.

China (where plug-in vehicles have nearly half the market) gets most of the attention, but neighbouring Vietnam isn't far behind: Pure-play EV-maker VinFast Auto accounted for more than a third of car sales in the first half of 2025.

Turkey's 13 per cent sales' share for fully electric vehicles in the first quarter was about double the penetration rate in Spain and Australia, according to a survey by Strategy&. In Indonesia, the share was about the same as in the US, at 7.4 per cent. In Malaysia, it was 8.6 per cent in the first half.

PETROL-DEPENDENT COUNTRIES TRANSITION FASTER Those countries all have legacy car industries still pumping out internal combustion engines. Things are moving even faster in nations wholly dependent on imports.