How China Boosts Global Electric Car Sales

Three in 20 cars sold globally in 2022 were electric, with more than half of them sold in China alone.

Electric vehicle (EV) sales have tripled in the past three years, from nearly three million new electric cars sold worldwide in 2020 to 10 million last year.

To put that number in perspective, for every 20 new cars sold worldwide in 2022, three were electric.

Government policies and stricter emissions standards have helped accelerate the adoption of electric cars. By the end of 2023, the International Energy Agency (IEA) projects some 14 million electric cars will be sold this year, an increase of 35 percent from 2022.

The following table summarizes EV sales and trends from 2010 to 2022 in nine countries.

(Al Jazeera)

China leads global electric vehicle sales

China accounts for more than half (58 percent) of all new electric cars sold worldwide.

According to the IEA, over the course of 2022, 5.9 million new electric vehicles were sold nationwide, an increase of more than 80 percent compared to 2021. The China Automobile Manufacturers Association raised the figures for sales to seven million vehicles.

Chinese automakers including BYD (Build Your Dreams) and SAIC-GM-Wuling have been dedicated to producing affordable and efficient electric cars and are now major auto producers and exporters.

With China being the world’s largest auto market, the rapid growth in electric car sales is expected to help reduce the country’s carbon dioxide emissions, which are also the higher in the world.

As a percentage of total car sales, nearly one in three new cars (29 percent) sold in China are electric, compared with 21 percent in Europe, 8 percent in the United States and about 2 percent in the United States. cent in the rest of the world.

How do electric vehicles work?

Electric vehicles use energy stored in their onboard batteries to power one or more electric motors, which drive the wheels.

Through a specific connector, the battery can be recharged by plugging the vehicle into a charging station or an electrical outlet. The capacity of a battery is measured in kilowatt-hours (kWh), which indicates the energy it can supply if used continuously for one hour.

Charging stations use direct current (DC) to provide a more powerful and constant flow of electricity, allowing them to charge the car battery much faster than a standard alternating current (AC) outlet found in homes.

Electric vehicles produce zero emissions while in operation. The level of emissions varies depending on the source. Renewable sources like wind or solar power have low emissions, and coal, gas, and oil have higher emissions.

What minerals are used in electric vehicles?

At the heart of every electric vehicle is its battery. Most plug-in hybrids and all-electric vehicles use lithium-ion batteries, which are lightweight and energy-dense.

Compared to conventional cars, electric vehicles require significantly more minerals to produce. To illustrate these differences, according to the IEA, in addition to steel and aluminum, more than 200 kg (440 pounds) of minerals are needed to produce an electric car with a single 75kWh NMC (nickel-manganese-cobalt) battery. An equivalent traditional car would require around 34 kg (75 lbs) of ores to produce.

In addition to copper and manganese, which are present in both traditional and electric vehicles, electric vehicle batteries and motors also rely on significant amounts of graphite, nickel, cobalt, lithium, and rare earths, the extraction of which is often is affected by environmental pollution and labor exploitation in the global south.