EVs expected to make up 18% of vehicles on the road this year

April 26 (UPI) -- Helped in part by tax incentives, the International Energy Agency said Wednesday that the share of electric vehicles on the road is expected to increase from 4% in 2020 to 18% this year.

"Electric vehicles are one of the driving forces in the new global energy economy that is rapidly emerging -- and they are bringing about a historic transformation of the car manufacturing industry worldwide," said IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol.

The IEA said there were more than 10 million electric vehicles sold last year and sales are expected to reach 14 million in 2023, a pace the agency described as "explosive." Cars, meanwhile, are just the "first wave," with buses and long-haul trucks expected to follow recent trends.

General Motors, one of the so-called Big Three automakers, said Tuesday it would phase out of the Chevy Volt sedan in favor of the 2024 Silverado EV pickup truck. Ford, meanwhile, set aside more than $50 billion for electric vehicles and battery components, with a goal of 2 million in production runs for EVs by 2026.

Data show Ford could be carbon-neutral across its vehicles, operations and supply chain by 2050.

U.S. automakers help make the country one of the largest markets for electric vehicles, though China is in the lead with 60% of total EV sales last year. The European Union and the United States are the second- and third-largest markets, respectively.

Both the EU and the U.S. markets, however, are incentivized by generous tax credits that would go toward the purchase of a new EV, provided many of the components are made in Western markets.

The IEA's Birol said recent trends for EV sales suggest at least five million barrels of oil will be avoided by 2030, a significant about-face in terms of fossil fuel demand.

"The internal combustion engine has gone unrivaled for over a century, but electric vehicles are changing the status quo," he said.