Norway and the Netherlands are leading the world when it comes to the adoption of electric vehicles, with EVs now enjoying over 50% market share in both nations.
There’s no denying that 2020 was a horrific year for traditional car sales, but sales of battery electric vehicles were largely unharmed by the Covid-19 pandemic. That has led to EVs accounting for a larger share of new car sales than ever before.
In fact, here in the UK, battery electric vehicles made up 6.6% of all car sales in 2020, an enormous jump of 185.9% versus the year before. That pales in comparison to sales in Norway and the Netherlands, however.
Norway was the first to announce its sales figures for 2020, where it revealed that electric vehicles made up 54.3% of all new cars sold. That means it became the first country in the world to see EVs officially overtake the sales of traditional fossil-fuelled vehicles, although that’s not exactly surprising.
For years Norway has been leading the way in adoption for electric vehicles, so it’s hardly surprising to see the country boast about its more than 50% adoption rate for electric vehicle sales. However, it’s not the number one country in the world when it comes to electric vehicles.
That’s because it’s the Netherlands that takes the top spot. In fact, the Netherlands boasted a whopping 69% market share for electric vehicles in 2020, a massive feat considering the more than 400,000 cars sold each year in the Netherlands.
However, there is one thing to bear in mind with these astonishing figures, and that’s the fact that it counts ALL electric vehicles – not just those powered purely by a battery. In fact, if you were to just account for pure EVs, then the market share sits closer to 21%, which still isn’t too bad.
The rapid growth of electric vehicles around the world is going to be hugely beneficial for the electrical market, as it will mean an increase in demand for electric vehicle charging infrastructure. It’s expected that many homes will want to benefit from cheap overnight charging, and for that they will need a home charger.
Additionally, rapid and fast charging stations will also need to grow to address range anxiety concerns for those on the road – even though range anxiety is nothing but a myth.
