China’s electric vehicle penetration rate is expected to continue rising, albeit at a slower pace toward the end of the decade, to reach 75% to 80% by 2030, a researcher at state oil company Sinopec said on Thursday.
The continued growth of the sector is set to curb oil demand in the world’s largest crude oil importer.
Sinopec’s Economics and Development Research Institute estimates EVs will displace 56 million metric tons, or about 1.2 million barrels per day, of oil demand in China this year, its vice president, Fairy Wang, told the APPEC conference in Singapore.
“It is equivalent to almost 15% of China’s total demand for refined oil products,” she said. “About two-thirds of the displaced demand comes from gasoline-powered vehicles, while one-third comes from diesel vehicles.”
EV penetration in China, the world’s largest market for the vehicles, reached 65% in July, up from 53% last year and just 5% in 2020, according to Wang. The figures include both battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles.
Wang said nearly all public transport vehicles in China were now electrified.
She attributed the rapid growth of EV adoption to previous government subsidies and the country’s extensive charging infrastructure.
China currently has about 23 million charging stations, around two-thirds of which are home chargers, with the remainder being public charging facilities, Wang said. The availability of charging infrastructure in both large and small cities has encouraged more consumers to switch to EVs.
(Reporting by Chen Aizhu and Siyi Liu; Editing by Thomas Derpinghaus and Jamie Freed)