According to this study, released this Wednesday by the body based in Paris, France, the number of electric vehicles circulating should increase, in just 24 months, from the current 3.7 million units to 13 million vehicles.
According to figures now released by the International Energy Agency (IEA), an institution whose mission is to advise the most industrialized nations on their Energy policy, growth in sales of this type of zero-emission vehicles should be around 24% a year , by the end of the decade.
In addition to the surprise of the numbers, the study ends up being equally good news for car manufacturers, which have been changing the needle to electric mobility, as is the case of giants like the Volkswagen Group or General Motors. And that they follow the path that has been pioneered by manufacturers such as Nissan or Tesla.
China will continue to lead
As for those that will be the main trends in the automobile market, until the end of 2020, the same document argues that China will continue to be the largest market in absolute terms, and also for electric, which, he adds, should become a quarter of all vehicles sold in Asia by 2030.The document also says that trams will not only grow, but will replace many of the combustion engine vehicles on the road. Thus dropping the need for barrels of oil—basically what Germany needs a day—by 2.57 million a day.
More Gigafactories needed!
On the contrary, the increase in demand for electric vehicles will also lead to a greater need for battery production plants. With the IEA predicting that at least 10 more mega-factories will be needed, similar to the Gigafactory that Tesla is building in the US, to respond to the needs of a market made up mostly of light vehicles — passenger and commercial.
Once again, it will be China that will absorb half of the production, followed by Europe, India and, finally, the USA.
Buses will become 100% electric
In the field of vehicles, electric mobility in the coming years should also include buses, which, according to the study presented, will represent in 2030 around 1.5 million vehicles, the result of a growth of 370 thousand units per year.In 2017 alone, nearly 100,000 electric buses were sold worldwide, 99% of which were in China, with the city of Shenzhen leading the way, with a whole fleet of vehicles currently operating in its arteries.
FOLLOW US ON YOUTUBE Subscribe to our channel
Cobalt and lithium needs will skyrocket
As a result of this growth, the International Energy Agency also predicts an increase in demand, in the coming years, for materials such as cobalt and lithium . Essential elements in the construction of rechargeable batteries — used not only in cars, but also in mobile phones and laptops.
However, since 60% of the world's cobalt is in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the product is mined using child labor, governments are beginning to pressure manufacturers to find new solutions and materials, for your batteries.