China leads the world in EV infrastructure but lags behind in consumer spending power: Euromonitor
Last year, China had 1.8 million public charging stations, about 65 per cent of the global total, and the country also had the highest ratio of fast chargers on highways at 534 per 100 kilometres of highway length, the report said.
What is China’s perfect EV? It needs brains and brawn to start with
However, China ranked 36th in average consumer spending power, just ahead of Indonesia, Bulgaria, Thailand and India, because of its relatively lower disposable household income, the report added.
“Worsening economic conditions, the cost-of-living crisis and higher interest rates [globally] are making it more difficult for consumers to purchase new vehicles,” said Razvadauskas.
Overall, Norway, Switzerland and Sweden are the top three most EV-friendly markets in the index, largely because of their EV market maturity and overall consumer buying power, according to Euromonitor.
While India, South Africa and Brazil took the last three spots on account of limited government incentives and low incomes, the undersupply of public charging stations remains a challenge for many emerging and developing economies.
The Chinese government has set a target that at least 20 per cent of cars sold annually by 2025 should be new energy vehicles, an umbrella term that includes battery-powered cars, plug-in hybrids and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.
By 2035, that figure rises to more than 50 per cent, as it is one of the measures to support the country’s goal of reaching peak carbon emissions by the end of this decade and net-zero emissions by 2060.