Contrary to the barrage of unsourced speculation on social media, EV adoption is indeed causing carbon emissions and oil demand to fall, albeit by a small amount so far. However, despite what many EV fans might assume, electric cars are not the main drivers of the reduction.
According to BloombergNEF, EVs as a whole displaced about 1.5 million barrels of oil per day globally in 2022—about 3% of total road fuel demand. Two thirds of that was due to electric bikes and mopeds. Electric passenger cars delivered a little over a sixth, and commercial EVs accounted for the rest.
In the US, bicycles and motorcycles are often considered recreational vehicles, but in other parts of the world they’re important parts of the transportation system. They are rapidly electrifying—according to BloombergNEF, EVs made up 49% of the global market for two- and three-wheeled vehicles in 2022, compared with a market share of 14% for passenger cars.
Bloomberg tells us that there were almost 300 million two- and three-wheeled EVs around the world in 2022, and that number has surely grown substantially since.
According to the International Energy Agency, over 95% of the electric two-wheelers are located in China.
Sources: BloombergNEF, International Energy Agency via The Guardian
