A record share of new cars sold worldwide this year will be battery-powered, according to new projections from the International Energy Agency. The majority of new cars in China are now electric. Sales across the rest of Asia are surging on the back of cheap Chinese models and EVs now account for a sizable chunk of Europe's market. In the U.S., by contrast, the Trump administration's moves against EVs have stalled the market, with new electric sales on pace to fall for a second straight year.
EVs still make up only a small slice of the world's total cars, so it will take years for them to dominate the roads, but gas car sales are already past their peak, and the IEA expects electric models to claim half of all new sales worldwide by 2035. Geopolitics may accelerate the shift. The war in Iran has driven up gas prices and caused fuel shortages in some countries, adding urgency for oil-importing nations. As EVs get cheaper and fossil fuels grow more volatile, economics may end up driving the transition faster than climate goals ever could.
