Electric Vehicle Take-up Study Reveals World Leaders

The US is falling well behind other nations when it comes to the roll out of carbon saving electric vehicle technologies

An international study by car experts from car rental comparison website StreeFreeCarRental.com has ranked the US tenth in the world when it comes to adopting carbon saving electric vehicles – far behind China, Japan and several European nations.

In the United States more than 1.7m electric vehicles have been sold, one for every 189 Americans. These cars share a network of 26,000 public charging points, that’s one for every 67 cars, well behind many other nations.

The Netherlands was found to be most advanced in the roll out of electric vehicle technologies followed by Norway and Sweden with France ranked in fourth place.

Researchers looked at both electric vehicle sales per head of population and state investment in infrastructure and charging points to compile a definitive leader board of the countries showing the way when it comes to electric cars.

Britain managed to reach eighth place in the world top ten with electric vehicle sales of more than 430,000 and 13,500 public charging stations. Those figures mean there is currently an electric vehicle on the road for every 154 people in Britain along with 32 cars for every public charging station.

The study highlights how much work there is still to be done for the US to catch up with other countries in the race to net zero carbon emissions.

China reported the highest number of electric vehicle sales in the world with more than 4.5m already on the roads but the country only managed fifth place on the leader board as its huge population means there were 304 people for every electric car. Infrastructure is strong though with a charging station for every nine cars.

In contrast 297,380 electric cars have been sold in the Netherlands – representing one for every 58 people in the country. It also has made huge investments in infrastructure with more public charging stations per car than any other country – one for every five electric cars currently on the road.

Eco-conscious Norway was found to have more electric cars per head of population than anywhere else in the world. The 480,000 vehicles sold there means there is one for every 11 people but it missed out on the top ranked spot due to having fewer public charging stations just one for every 30 cars – less than several other countries and possibly a consequence of the rapid growth in popularity of the new technology.

Norway’s neighbour Sweden was also highly ranked – taking third spot with almost 200,000 vehicles sold and a network of 10,000 public charging points. That means an electric vehicle on the road for every 52 Swedes and a charging point for every 19 cars.

France was found to be fourth in the world for electric vehicles with more than 470,000 already on the roads there – significantly more than the UK. The French also have 30,000 public charging points. These figures represent one electric car for every 143 people in France and a charging station for every 16 cars.

Japan has a population roughly half that of the US and has so far sold only 325,000 electric vehicles, less than a fifth of US electric vehicle sales. But the Japanese government has invested in 30,000 public charging stations – more than the 26,000 currently available in the US.

The researchers also looked at several other countries which failed to make the top ten. In Australia, for example, only 21,000 electric vehicle sales have been reported, which means there are around 1200 Australians for every vehicle.

South Africa was also found to be well behind the electric vehicle curve with just 1,119 electric vehicles reported on the road there.

A spokesman for StressFreeCarRental.com who compiled the research said: “There is a lot of work to be done by Governments across the world if they are serious about tackling climate change and reducing CO2 emissions.

“Our study shows which countries are leading the world in the race to net zero vehicle emissions and which are falling behind in the slow lane.

“Norway has more electric cars per population than anywhere else in the world but they were pipped to our top spot by the Netherlands due to the government there investing heavily in charging stations. With so many charging points we feel the Netherlands really is setting the right example to other countries.

“We found drivers in the Netherlands have been very receptive to the new technology. In such as compact country the limited range of some electric cars has been perhaps less of a concern than it might be in a larger country such as the United States.

“The US though could learn a great deal from China where there are already more than half a million public charging stations. One for every nine electric vehicles – a far higher number than America where 67 cars compete for each charging station.

“Looking at the research it’s clear there is a pattern between public confidence in range along with the number of charging stations. Once drivers feel the technology is affordable and are confident they won’t run out of charge on their journey then they are more inclined to buy.”

For the full breakdown of data, please visit https://www.stressfreecarrental.com/en/usa/car-hire-electric

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