Six million electric vehicles (battery electric and plug-in hybrid) will be shipped in 2022, up from 4 million in 2021, according to a new forecast by Gartner Inc.
Electric cars will represent 95% of total electric vehicle (EV) shipments this year and the remainder will be split between buses, vans and heavy trucks. Greater China and Western Europe will lead the market in shipments, the market research firm said.
With China requiring that EVs make up 40% of all vehicle sales by 2030 and automakers establishing new factories to manufacture electric cars, Greater China is expected to account for a world-leading 46% of global EV shipments in 2022, or 2.9 million units. Western Europe is on pace to ship 1.9 million, followed by North America at 855,300.
"The EU's plan to cut CO2 emissions from cars by 55% and vans by 50% by 2030 is a catalyst to the uptake of EVs in Europe," said Jonathan Davenport, research director at Gartner.
"At COP26 in November 2021, the Zero Emission Vehicle Transition Council agreed that vehicle manufacturers will commit to selling only zero-emission vehicles by 2040 -- and earlier in leading markets -- putting pressure on the automotive sector to prepare for the decarbonisation in transport.
"EVs are an important powertrain technology to help reduce CO2 emissions from the transport sector."
The ongoing shortage of semiconductors will affect the production of EVs in 2022, said Mr Davenport. And while shipments of vans and trucks are currently small, their numbers will grow rapidly "as commercial owners see the financial and environmental benefit of electrifying their fleets", he added.
As governments across the world introduce new regulations and incentives to fuel EV sales, the automotive industry is also increasing investment in companies that provide charging infrastructure and vehicle battery technology to support and bolster the transition to EVs by consumers and businesses.
Gartner forecasts that the number of global public EV charging points will rise to 2.1 million in 2022, from 1.6 million units in 2021.
To foster the transition to EVs, automotive manufacturers will have to address several factors such as lowering the price of EVs and batteries, recycling batteries, offering a wider selection of vehicle models with more extensive driving range and improving charging infrastructure, said Mr Davenport.
"Additionally, a major issue that must be addressed is lack of fast-charging availability for home and public charging," he said.
"Utility providers will need to increase their investments in smart grid infrastructure to cope with the growing consumption of electricity. Additionally, to meet climate change ambitions, countries which utilise fossil fuels to generate electricity will need to redesign their power generation to respond to the transition."