Study: EV Adoption Rate Too Slow To Prevent The Worst Of Climate Change

Apparently, the main reason why we’re not transitioning to EVs more quickly is still because of the infrastructure.

Tesco Volkswagen EV chargers

Andrei Nedelea

By: Andrei Nedelea

May 16, 2022 at 5:49am ET

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People are buying more electric vehicles around the world, but overall their positive impact on climate change is still not significant enough. According to a new study that was recently published, the current rate of EV adoption will not have a noticeable impact on climate change, and in order for the benefits to be visible, the trend needs to be accelerated.

According to Eric Hannon, partner in McKinsey's Center for Future Mobility and co-author of Mobility's Net-Zero Transition: A Look at Opportunities and Risks, who spoke to Automotive News,

How we get there is not written in stone. Frankly, we're moving too slow. We aren't on a trajectory that gets us there yet.

Hannon argues that the main reason why EV adoption is not gaining more momentum has to do with the charging infrastructure. He explains that in Europe, for instance, some 10,000 chargers per week would need to be added in order for 2030 climate targets to be achieved. If carbon emissions don’t peak and start declining by 2025, then according to his research, EVs impact on climate change won’t be enough (to keep the temperature rise to under 1.5 degrees this century).

In the final quarter of 2021, electric vehicles made up around 8 percent of all new car registrations in Europe, while in the US, EVs, PHEVs and hybrids combined just touched 10 percent in the same time frame. This proves the rapid growth in popularity for electrified and electric vehicles over the last five years, but also the fact that we still have a long way to go until all new passenger cars only run on electrons.

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Hannon concluded that

A lot of people recognize that if they invest more in a good pair of shoes, it's going to last a little bit longer. If we wait 10 years or 15 years to start thinking about this and start acting in earnest, it's too late. Then it becomes incredibly bumpy and incredibly difficult and problematic.

More studies on EV adoption

See Plug-In Electric Car Adoption Map For All US States In 2021