Stimulus packages around the world could help a rise in electric vehicles (EVs) sales and speed up progress in decarbonization in the transportation sector, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Monday, noting that recovery packages should reflect the change in the global car fleet over the past decade.
Since 2009, the global automotive fleet has moved towards a decline in diesel cars, a rising share of SUVs, and growth in EVs, the latter of which were virtually non-existent a decade ago.
"Reflecting these differences in today's stimulus packages can accelerate progress towards transport decarbonisation goals," energy policy analysts and program managers at the IEA said in the analysis.
"Connecting incentives to fuel efficiency standards sets a clear and ambitious policy direction that supports the transformation of the automotive sector through a larger uptake of electric vehicles," the authors said.
Global electric car sales reached almost 2.1 million in 2019, achieving a 2.6-percent market share, the Paris-based agency said. This year, global EV sales are expected to reach 2.3 million, for a market share of 3.2 percent, the IEA forecasts.
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On the other hand, the overall automotive industry is set to see a decline this year, as most industry sectors in the wake of the pandemic. According to the IEA, global car sales are expected to fall by around 15 percent this year compared to 2019.
This year, the prospects for EV sales look rosier than for the automotive sector as a whole. For example, sales of EVs in key countries in the European Union (EU) almost doubled in the first four months of 2020 compared with 2019, despite the pandemic and lockdowns, the IEA noted.
"Embedding incentives for the deployment of low-carbon vehicles in stimulus packages can provide short-term support to the automotive sector and prepare the value chain for the next decade," said the IEA.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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Tsvetana is a writer for Oilprice.com with over a decade of experience writing for news outlets such as iNVEZZ and SeeNews. More