Electric vehicles shipments set to grow by 35 per cent in 2022

Electric vehicle shipments are set to reach 6 million globally, up from 4 million in 2021, according to the latest forecasts by Gartner.

The 2022 figure is a 35 per cent increase from the previous year with Greater China set to account for 46 per cent of global EV shipments this year.

That’s a total of 2.9 million EVs just in that region.

Europe will rank number 2 as it’s on track to ship 1.9 million units in 2022.

North America will the third highest region in 2022 with an expected shipment of 855,300 EVs.

The Asia Pacific region, and in particular Australia, is still way down the list in terms of expected electric vehicle shipments and don’t even rate a mention in Gartner’s forecasts.

Also on the rise is the number of global public EV charges which will rise to 2.1 million units in 2022, up from 1.6 million in 2021.

The number of public EV charges is forecast to grow to 7.6 million by 2028.

China is leading the way after automakers who have been directed to have electric vehicles make up 40 per cent of all sales by 2030.

China is also the place where car manufacturers are building new factories to build their electric cars.

Governments around the world are introducing new incentives and regulations to spark sales of electric vehicles while investments are increasing in companies that offer charging infrastructure and vehicle battery technology.

Auto manufacturers have also been challenged to make the transition to electric vehicles a little smoother for customers.

One factor is lowering the price of EVs and batteries to give buyers a wider selection at various price points.

“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 decarbonization in transportation,” said Jonathan Davenport, research director at Gartner. “EVs are an important powertrain technology to help reduce CO₂ emissions from the transportation sector.

“The ongoing shortage of chips will impact the production of EVs in 2022, and while shipments of vans and trucks are currently small, their shipments will grow rapidly as commercial owners see the financial and environmental benefit of electrifying their fleets.

“Additionally, a major issue that must be addressed is lack of fast-charging availability for home and public charging.

“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 utilize fossil fuels to generate electricity will need to redesign their power generation to respond to the transition.”