Asian car parc electrification hits another record 

During the first 10 months of 2024, 674.6 GWh of battery capacity were deployed onto roads globally in all newly sold passenger EVs (including plug-in, range extender and conventional hybrids) combined, up 24% over January through October of the year prior.

Despite contributing a full 62% of the global total in GWh terms, Asia Pacific added fresh capacity at a noticeably faster rate than the Americas and Europe. Specifically, EV buyers in the Asia Pacific region rolled 419.9 GWh of battery power onto the region’s roads, a jump of 33% year on year.

By comparison, European drivers (including the UK, Russia and non-EU states) added 129.5 GWh (+3%) while the Americas added 113.9 GWh (+20%).

Looking at the most recent month for which detailed data exists, growth in Europe has improved from a slump during the summer months – October GWh deployment was up 11% compared to the same month last year. In the Americas, new EV buyers steered 20% more power hours onto the region’s roads during the same period. 

In Asia Pacific, where China accounts for 91% of the market in GWh terms, a record 55.2 GWh were deployed onto roads in October alone, 41% more than the same month in 2023.

At the current pace, the 2024 calendar year could see the total combined battery capacity of EVs sold hit a record of more than 860 GWh deployed, or nearly 170 GWh more than over the course of 2023.  

It’s worth remembering just how young the global electric car market still is. In the 2017 calendar year, the combined battery capacity of all EVs sold globally totaled just 38.5 GWh. Today, the Chinese market alone exceeds that number monthly.

China’s EV buyers will likely add more power hours to the country’s roads in 2024 than the entire world combined just two short years ago.