Global sales of battery electric vehicles, fuel-cell vehicles, and plug-in hybrids are set to exceed the sales of light-duty vehicles with internal combustion engines for the first time in 2047, new research from Wood Mackenzie showed this week.

According to WoodMac, sales of vehicles with internal combustion engines (ICE) will account for 44 percent of global vehicle sales in 2050, as alternative zero-emission cars will dominate the new car sales.

The share of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) is set to be at 48 percent in 2050, plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) sales are expected to account for 5 percent of all global car sales, and fuel cell vehicles (FCV) will have a 3-percent share of the global car market.

By 2050, electric vehicle (EV) sales each year will clock in at 62 million units, and the total global EV fleet will be 700 million, according to Wood Mackenzie. 

EV sales are set to accelerate with many major economies incentivizing green recovery from the pandemic and pledging net-zero emission targets by 2050. Some major economies have also moved to ban sales of new gasoline and diesel cars at some point by 2050. The UK, for example, banned the sale of new gasoline and diesel cars from 2030, ten years earlier than initially planned.  

In the United States, GM said last month it was going all-in toward an all-electric future, aiming to eliminate all tailpipe emissions from new light-duty vehicles by 2035 as part of a wider strategy to become a carbon-neutral business by 2040.

Global sales of EV and plug-ins surged last year despite the pandemic.

“Emissions regulations in western Europe were successful in doubling EV adoption despite the crippling coronavirus pandemic. This provides a roadmap for other countries and regions with similar goals to stimulate EV sales growth,” Ram Chandrasekaran, Wood Mackenzie Principal Analyst, said.

Despite the expected dominance of EVs within three decades, global oil demand from light-duty vehicles is projected to drop by just 24 percent, according to the analyst.

“Slow erosion of ICE stock and an increased demand from emerging economies are the main reasons for this lethargic drop,” said Chandrasekaran.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:

• Morgan Stanley: Gasoline Industry Is About to Become Totally Worthless
  
• Can Exxon Bounce Back From A Disasterous 2020?
  
• The Oil Deal That Could Break Up Iraq