BP Chief Executive Bernard Looney, new light vehicle fuel efficiency is having a greater impact on fuel demand than increasing sales of EVs.
The 1.4 billion light vehicles in use worldwide are being replaced by newer models that get better gas mileage as the older ones are scrapped.
“That is locked in, and that’s having a bigger impact on oil demand than electric vehicles,” Looney said at the CERAWeek energy conference. According to him, EVs make up about 3% of the world’s fleet of vehicles.
By 2040, there will be 2.2 billion vehicles on the road worldwide, largely due to China and India, the speaker predicted.
By 2040, fuel efficiency demand could decrease by 5 million to 10 million barrels per day as a result of more fuel efficient and electric vehicles on the road, according to Looney. According to him, the current fleet of light vehicles around the world uses about 32 million bpd. That makes up about a third of the world’s oil demand.
