323 million EVs will be on the road by 2040

New research from Wood Mackenzie has claimed that electric vehicle sales are expected to reach 45 million units per year by 2040, with a total global EV stock of 323 million.

Both projections have been revised down by two per cent from the organisation’s pre-coronavirus forecast, with the pandemic delaying total vehicle sales by two years.

Wood Mackenzie expects commercial EV adoption to see a step change when the total cost of ownership becomes favourable to EVs in the segment. Commercial EV sales are projected to top 5.5 million a year by 2040, with global stock hitting 40 million by the same year.

Although it has seen progress on both fronts, Wood Mackenzie cites a lack of EV charging infrastructure and the high price of electric cars as the main barriers to widespread EV adoption.

Ram Chandrasekaran, Wood Mackenzie Principal Analyst, said: “Despite EV stock growing to 35 times its current size, the transport emissions curve will flatten and not fall. The global CO2 emissions contribution of transport will increase by 1.3 megatons between now and 2040. Major automakers have set their sights on being climate neutral by 2050 and view battery electric vehicles (BEVs) as the strongest lever to achieving that target.”