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The good news is that more people bought electric cars in 2020. The bad news is that SUVs continued to grow in popularity, too. The fall in oil consumption due to the first trend was completely cancelled out by the second, say Laura Cozzi and Apostolos Petropoulos at the International Energy Agency (IEA) in France.
The growing popularity of SUVs is making it even harder to cut carbon dioxide emissions （排放） and meet climate goals. “Policy-makers need to find ways to persuade consumers to choose smaller and more efficient cars,” says Petropoulos.
Oil consumption by conventional cars – not including SUVs – is estimated to have fallen 10 percent in 2020, or by more than 1.8 million barrels （桶） a day, Cozzi and Petropoulos say in a commentary published by the IEA on 15 January. Most of this fall was due to reduced travel and is likely to be temporary.
But a small part of the drop, around 40,000 barrels a day, was as a result of the increased share of electric vehicles (EVs). “We have seen a skyrocketing of global electric car sales in 2020,” says Petropoulos. Unfortunately, the number of SUVs increased as well. While overall car sales fell in 2020, 42 percent of buyers chose SUVs, up around three percentage points from 2019.
Globally, there are now more than 280 million SUVs being driven, up from fewer than 50 million in 2010. On average, SUVs consume 20 percent more energy per kilometre than a medium-sized car.
The increase in SUVs in 2020 led to a rise in oil consumption that cancelled out the effect of electric cars, says Petropoulos. Much the same is true over the past decade. Between 2010 and 2020, global CO2 emissions from conventional cars fell by nearly 350 megatonnes, due to factors such as fuel efficiency improvements as well as the switch to electric cars. Emissions from SUVs rose by more than 500 megatonnes.
“While the growth in EVs is encouraging, the increase in SUVs is heart-breaking,” says Glen Peters at the CICERO climate research centre in Norway.
There are many reasons for the growing popularity of SUVs, says Petropoulos. Rising prosperity （繁荣） in many countries means more people are able to afford them, for instance. Some people see them as a symbol of social position. SUVs are also heavily advertised by car-makers, he says, whose profits are higher on these vehicles.
There are now some electric SUVs available. “Hopefully, in time, you will see electric vehicles entering the SUV market,” says Peters.
Even if it happens, switching to electric SUVs isn’t an ideal solution. Due to their size and bigger batteries, it takes more resources to build electric SUVs, and they consume around 15 percent more electricity. Higher electricity demand makes it harder to green the electricity supply.
1 ． Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
A ． The SUVs driven in 2019 reached up to 280 million.
B ． Electric cars appeared a sharp decline in sales in 2020.
C ． Buyers of SUVs in 2020 increased 42 percent than those in 2019.
D ． Global SUVs being driven now are over five times as many as those in 2010.
2 ． From the increase of SUVs, we can infer ________.
A ． it could have harmful consequences for the air quality
B ． the oil consumption will increase and the price will fall
C ． people all over the world are getting wealthier than before
D ． the car-makers think it’s unnecessary to advertise any more
3 ． What can we conclude from the passage?
A ． The purchases of SUVs should be reduced.
B ． The SUVs should be discontinued immediately.
C ． The awareness of using electric cars needs to be improved.
D ． Increasing electric cars can solve the problem of oil consumption.
4 ． What’s the author’s attitude to electric SUVs?
A ． Unconcerned. B ． Disapproving.
C ． Supportive. D ． Uncertain.
