In terms of pure purchasing heft, China's dominance in the electric vehicle (EV) market is unmatched: The country bought one out of every two EVs sold in 2021, and will remain by far the top single country for EV sales for decades more.
But in terms of other key EV market metrics, including share of total car sales, share of existing car inventories and sales per million people, Europe has stolen a significant lead, and merits close attention by those seeking a full understanding of electric vehicle industry dynamics.
China has rightly hogged the EV limelight over the past decade as Beijing charted bold decarbonization and energy efficiency drives and the country's automakers made aggressive grabs for dominance in electric car production.
Simultaneous build-outs of key segments of the EV supply chain — including critical battery manufacturing capacity — further cemented China's status as the most critical cog in the global EV machine, particularly on the supply side.
But in terms of EV demand growth relative to total auto demand, Europe has established its own areas of dominance, especially in the Nordic countries where EVs accounted for more than half of all cars sold in 2021, according to International Energy Agency (IEA) data.
High income levels among a climate-conscious populace, strong government support for electric vehicle purchases, and extensive public-private build-out of key EV charging infrastructure have been key supportive factors behind Europe's adoption of EVs.
Europe's EV demand is expected to accelerate in the coming years as the region grapples with an energy crisis following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which has sent power prices soaring and fomented widespread support for accelerating the energy transition away from fossil fuels.
An additional supportive element for EVs in Europe is the rapidly rising share of electric cars in the total pool of cars available to consumers there.
Nine of the top 10 countries ranked by the share of EVs in the total car stock are in Europe, seven of which had an EV share of 3% or more, IEA data shows.
The density of EV sales per population has been a key driver of this swell in EV stock.
While China is by far the largest EV-selling country, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom all had higher EV sales per million people in 2021.
That means that even budget-conscious potential car purchasers have a growing number of used as well as new EVs to chose from when they come to buy their next car.
The rapid roll-out of charging infrastructure is an additional supportive factor for EVs in Europe.
Maguire is a columnist for Reuters.
