Electric Vehicles Around the World

 

By Glenn Hurowitz; reprinted with permission; see www.mightyearth.org

 

Last year, I bought an electric vehicle for the first time. I’m glad I did: way less climate pollution, never stopping at a gas station, and you don’t even have to spend a couple of hours every year and a big fee on a pollution inspection.

And now the war in Iran, like the war in Ukraine, is exposing the world’s insanely unnecessary dependence on oil. Every auto company doubling down on internal combustion engines and every government weakening EV subsidies is making drivers – and whole nations – into chumps.

Some countries woke up to the threat of oil and the opportunity of clean energy years ago. China is well on its way to becoming the world’s biggest "electrostate" –10% of its GDP now comes from clean energy industries; renewables provide 30% of its electricity; and it’s dominating export markets for EVs and solar panels.

China is reaping the benefits of its investments with far greater resilience to the price shocks from the war than the United States and other electrification slowpokes.

It’s a bit hard to imagine the current US government changing its attitude in the short run, regardless of the economic pain it is inflicting on American drivers. But we can rally consumers to affect how auto companies act, how much they’re investing in EVs, and how much they’re securing deeper resilience by driving a shift to clean energy in their material supply chains (steel, aluminum, batteries).

That’s why we’re proud to join with a coalition of organizations in launching the third annual Lead the Charge leaderboard ranking automakers on electrification and decarbonization. There’s a clear gap between the companies shackling drivers to the dirty, flailing petro-economy and those helping their countries and the world free ourselves from reliance on polluting, unstable fuels. Here are the results:

 

 

 Chinese automakers were the biggest improvers this year, rapidly advancing battery decarbonization, recycling practices, and supply chain policies across the board. Companies like Geely and BYD are moving aggressively to capture the industries that will define the future. There are some big positives to this shift because China has emerged as the world’s largest auto exporter, thanks to consistent government funding and support, long-term planning, and massive investment across the EV supply chain by its automakers.

American automakers are falling further behind. As the Leaderboard shows, this past year, most of the U.S. leading automakers have slowed or scaled back EV investments. Ford and GM alone have announced more than $27 billion in write-downs tied to retreating EV plans. Meanwhile, Chinese companies are expanding aggressively into other global markets.

Aside from notable outlier Tesla, Chinese automakers also led the way in the share of their vehicles sold as EVs: BYD at 53%, GAC at 48%, and Geely at 36%. All three either maintained or improved their positions on the scorecard compared with previous years. By contrast, most European and American automakers hovered below 23%, with many slipping down in the rankings.

Amazingly, Chinese companies were the biggest improvers not just in EV sales or market share, but also in human rights and industry best practices. Geely, now the top-scoring East Asian automaker, set new standards for battery decarbonization and recycling while advancing human rights in its supply chain. BYD, the world’s largest EV maker, has taken important steps as well, including a new supplier code of conduct and institution of a supply chain grievance mechanism. So not only are Chinese automakers increasing their investments in EV production – they are beginning to do so more sustainably. Meanwhile, despite a high overall ranking, Ford’s human rights score dropped for the second consecutive year.

 

 China is still by far the world’s largest polluter, but it’s changing – and could leave the United States behind in what is still a race to decarbonize. As the scorecard shows, China increasingly isn’t just deploying American technology that America can’t summon the political will to put into practice, but actually innovating.

We need to demand better from these auto companies so that they continue to invest in the technologies of the future. In a world of electrostates, (politicians)  are threatening to turn American drivers into a bunch of chumps, locking us into dirty, polluting cars while the rest of the world races ahead to a cleaner, safer, more affordable future.

 

Glenn Hurowitz is Founder & CEO of Mighty Earth, an organization dedicated to advancing the mission to protect Earth for nature and secure a livable climate.