In an update published on Wednesday, Gartner estimated that 22,663 heavy electric trucks would be shipped in 2022 – an increase of 49.4%. The advisory company also estimates 126,607 electric vans will be shipped, which represents a rise of 46.8%.
Commenting on the figures, Jonathan Davenport, research director at Gartner, said:
“The ongoing shortage of chips will impact the production of EVs in 2022, and while shipments of vans and trucks are currently small, their shipments will grow rapidly as commercial owners see the financial and environmental benefit of electrifying their fleets.”
Gartner estimates that Greater China will take the No. 1 position in global EV shipments this year, shipping 2.9 million units. Western Europe is forecast to ship 1.9 million EVs in 2022, while North America is expected to ship 855,300.
“The EU’s plans to cut CO2 emissions from cars by 55% and vans by 50% by 2030 is a catalyst to the uptake of EVs in Europe,” added Davenport.
Naturally, all of these electric cars and electric commercial vehicles will require charging infrastructure to support them. According to Gartner’s forecast, the number of global public EV chargers will increase by 0.5 million units from 1.6 million to 2.1 million.
Gartner nonetheless points out that challenges remain for electric vehicle manufacturers, namely lowering the price of EVs and batteries, recycling EV batteries, offering a wider selection of vehicle models with more extensive driving range, and improving charging infrastructure.