The increase in demand was directly caused by the spread of electric vehicles. According to the EIA, the share of electric cars and all types of hybrids in the sales of new passenger cars across the U.S. rose from 12.9% in 2022 to 16.3% in 2023. Ground electric transport has been especially popular in the West Coast states, namely, California, Oregon and Washington, which accounted for 40% of electricity consumption by electric cars and plug-in hybrids in 2023. Meanwhile, middle Atlantic (New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania) and south Atlantic states (Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North and South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia) accounted for a total of 24.3% of demand for electricity in ground passenger transport.
The number of public charging stations in the U.S. increased 2.5-fold between 2018 and 2023, from 21,800 to 58,200 units, of which one-fourth (15,000 units) were based in California. Another three states – Florida, New York and Texas – accounted for a total of 16% (9,600 units) last year.
However, despite the growing popularity of electric vehicles, ground passenger transport remains a key segment of oil consumption both in the U.S. and worldwide. According to Rystad Energy’s forecast, cars and trucks will account for 41.7% of global oil demand by the end of 2024, while petrochemistry, the most promising segment of the oil market, including due to growing demand for polymers in developing countries of the Asia-Pacific, will account for a mere 15.5%, and air transport will hover at 6.9% (with the share of all other industries totaling 35.9%). Nevertheless, global savings from the use of electric vehicles remain small: in 2023, they amounted to 700,000 barrels per day, or just under 0.7% of global oil demand, according to the International Energy Agency.
