Need for fair play

The demand for electric vehicles, or EVs, has grown significantly, as evidenced by the substantial volume of sales last year.

- MARY ANN LL. REYES

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), global electric car sales reached 17 million in 2024, rising by more than 25 percent. In fact, more than 20 percent of new cars sold worldwide were electric.

The additional 3.5 million cars sold in 2024, compared to 2023, already exceed the total electric car sales in 2020, the IEA noted.

China maintained its lead among major markets, with electric car sales exceeding 11 million. Around one in 10 cars on the road in China is electric, compared to one in 20 in Europe. Almost half of China’s car sales were electric in 2024, representing approximately two-thirds of the electric cars sold globally, with electric vehicle sales in the country increasing by around 40 percent.

The IEA also reported that by the end of 2024, the electric car fleet had reached nearly 58 million, accounting for approximately four percent of the total passenger car fleet and more than tripling the total electric car fleet in 2021.

The global stock of electric cars displaced over one million barrels per day of oil consumption in 2024, the agency added.

Meanwhile, emerging and developing economies in Asia, excluding China, saw a significant increase in electric car sales, reaching almost 400,000 in 2024, up by 40 percent from 2023, according to the IEA. Thailand remained the largest EV market in Southeast Asia despite a 10-percent drop in electric car sales, which is smaller than the 24 percent drop in conventional car sales. The share of EVs in Thailand’s total car sales rose to 13 percent in 2024 from 11 percent in the previous year. Indonesia and Vietnam tripled and nearly doubled their sales numbers, respectively, while in Malaysia, electric car sales more than doubled in 2024.