The number of people wanting electric vehicles (EV) has hit a worldwide tipping point.
The latest EY Mobility Consumer Index shows that 52% of people looking to buy a car want to buy an EV. This is the first time the number has exceeded 50%, representing a rise of 11 percentage points since last year.
Americans are the least committed to EVs, EY found. The survey of 13,000 people in 18 countries shows that car buyers in Italy (73%), China (69%), and South Korea (63%) are the most committed to buying an EV, while consumers in Australia (38%) and the U.S. (29%) are less so.
“These findings truly mark a tipping point in the global car-buying market. For the first time since EY teams have been collecting this data, more than 50% of consumers across the globe indicate that they want an EV. The speed of this change has also been eye-opening, with a rise of 22 percentage points in just two years,” says EY’s Randy Miller.
The U.S. reached a major EV tipping point this year, with 5% of new car sales having been EVs. A Bloomberg analysis of adoption rates around the world shows that this 5% threshold, up from 3% the year before, signals the start of a mass adoption for this transformative transportation technology.
If the U.S. follows the trend of the 18 previous countries to pass the threshold, in three years, 25% of new car sales will be electric.