EVs are curbing the world's thirst for oil

Hi,

One quick thing: From today, we’ll be taking a three-week break from the newsletter while we shift our focus to securing funds. We’re working hard to ensure our long-term sustainability, and to scale up and improve the quality of our coverage.

With that said, here’s some good news to start the day:

• Global solar PV installations are on track to reach 655GW in 2025, a 10% increase from 2024, according to SolarPower Europe’s forecasts.

• China’s wind and solar capacity rose 60GW to 1,482GW in the first quarter of 2025, overtaking coal for the first time, PV Magazine reported.

• In Germany, electric models accounted for a record 29% of car sales in April, up from 18.4% last year, CleanTechnica reported.

• EV sales in emerging markets in Asia and Latin America surged 60% in 2024, according to the International Energy Agency.

• 70% of ferries currently on order globally now feature electric drivetrains, CleanTechnica reported. Norway has about 70 electric ferries running already.

• US gasoline consumption might have entered a period of permanent decline, according to an analysis by UC-Berkeley professor Lucas Davis.

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Thanks for reading, and see you again in mid-June.

Nick Hedley

Editor, The Progress Playbook

In numbers: The global EV boom is increasingly curbing oil demand

The world’s growing fleet of electric vehicles is starting to meaningfully curb oil demand, new data from the International Energy Agency (IEA) shows.

In 2024, the global stock of electric cars displaced over 1 million barrels per day of oil consumption, according to the agency. That equates to roughly 1% of total demand for oil, which is also used to make plastics and a wide range of every-day products and fuels.

As the share of EVs in new car sales grows — from roughly 20% last year, to 25% in 2025, and a projected 40% in 2030 — the total fleet will swell and make an increasingly large dent in oil use.

By 2030, EVs will displace more than 5 million barrels of oil per day (equivalent to a nearly 5% reduction in total demand), with China responsible for half that amount.

- Read the full story here.

Kenya’s third-largest city reimagines urban living

By the shores of Lake Victoria, the city of Kisumu is undergoing a transformation — not just of its skyline or infrastructure, but in spirit. Once known mainly for its fish markets and vibrant matatus (passenger taxis), Kenya’s third-largest city is now quietly emerging as one of East Africa’s most deliberate experiments in green urbanism.

- Read the full story here.

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Analysis: By matching Brazil and the UK’s climate ambitions, the world could secure a liveable future

Brazil and the UK have set 2035 decarbonisation targets that are aligned with what’s required to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, according to an analysis by BloombergNEF. That’s rare.

- Read the full story here.

Other articles you might find interesting:

• Germany’s biggest companies cut emissions by 6% in 2024

• How Hungary became the world’s solar energy leader

• These countries are leading the way to 100% renewable electricity

• What the world can learn from Copenhagen’s cycling revolution

• In numbers: How Beijing cleaned up its air

• China’s emissions decline amid clean energy surge

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