Accelerating Electric Vehicle Adoption in the CAREC Region: Insights from the 2024 Economic Brief

This Economic Brief by Mr.Shiliang Lu, Research Specialist at the CAREC Institute, presented an overview of the Electric Vehicle (EV) and its infrastructure development across the CAREC region in 2024.

The brief showed that aligned with the robust global EV sales in 2024, growth of EV imports (in USD terms) in the CAREC region (excluding the PRC) increased by 23%. While the PRC’s New Energy Vehicle (NEV) sales grew by 40% in 2024, sales of the imported NEVs fell by 47.1% yoy. The rise of domestic EV brands and the acceleration of local production of international EV models significantly weakened the country’s EV imports.

In view of rather insufficient provision of EV charging infrastructure in the region, Mr. Lu urged respective member countries to accelerate the process of building high-quality charging infrastructure networks to support their transition to e-mobility. He suggested countries roll out robust regulatory frameworks to guide relevant practitioners, upgrade the current grid networks to meet the increasing charging needs, offering incentives to bring more private capital to participate in infrastructure construction, develop information sharing platforms to facilitate the charging process, and cultivate maintenance professionals to ensure sustainability of the infrastructure.

By fostering a conducive environment for EV use, the CAREC region can not only meet its sustainability goals but also position itself as a leader in the global to shift towards e-mobility. The economic brief serves as a call for policymakers to consider and embrace these recommendations and accelerate the transition for a greener future.