In a new analysis of battery electric vehicle (BEV) markets, the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) forecasts the European market will rebound in 2025 and overtake China, the current leader in the vehicle electrification segment, by 2030.

The ACEA report indicates nearly 20% of all new cars registered in China are BEVs, boosting the country now ahead of Europe and well ahead of the US in the electrification of the car market.

Chinese sales of new BEVs increased 89.4% so far this year – some 2.9 million cars The increase largely has been driven by government incentives to boost sales after the disruptions of the April-May lockdowns, which mostly benefited the purchase of new electric vehicles.

At the same time, growth has been strong but less steep in the European region, including the EU, EFTA countries and the UK – where BEV sale volumes totaled 1 million units, up 25.7% compared to one year ago.

However, says the ACEA, the BEV share of the European market is expected to reach almost 30% by 2025 and to exceed 70% by 2030 – taking the lead again on the other world regions.

This trend can be sustained only if governments invest more heavily in infrastructure. The rollout of charging points across Europe remains the key challenge, the ACEA points out.

The latest ACEA Progress Report reveals almost half of all EV charging points are concentrated in only two EU countries – the Netherlands (90,000 chargers) and Germany (60,000) – which make up less than 10% of the entire EU surface area.

According to the ACEA, up to 6.8 million public charging points are required across the EU by 2030 to reach the proposed 55% CO2 reduction for passenger cars – representing more than 22 times growth in under 10 years.