As innovative brands like Tesla continue to advance in technological developments, accessibility to consumers and sales, the popularity of electric cars continues to grow steadily, as well. There were close to zero electric cars on the road anywhere in the world in 2010. That may seem hard to believe now, as the global stock total topped 7.2 million in 2019 — and that's not even including new car sales so far in 2020. 2019 recorded 2.1 million electric passenger car sales, the International Energy Agency (IEA) reports, culminating in a global stock total of 7.2 million electric and plug-in hybrid passenger cars — more than doubling the international stock total in just two years — up from 3.2 million in 2017. With this explosive growth in a new market comes a need — or opportunity — for new insurance products. There are many factors to consider in car shopping, including price, fuel costs, safety and more. In shopping for an electric car, these main considerations are much the same — but what about insurance coverage? |

Insurance basics for electric cars

According to Allstate, auto insurance policies for electric cars aren't much different than traditional coverage for standard fuel-run vehicles. One additional consideration drivers should consider, however, pertains to more than just your new battery-charged ride. According to Allstate, the installation of vehicle charging stations may affect homeowners' insurance policies. The American Association of Insurance Services reports that laws in at least two states (Oregon and California) require some homeowners and condo owners to have liability coverage that protects the charging equipment. |

Where electric cars dominate the roadways

Insurers should take note of where electric cars are most populated. Breaking down electric car ownership by region, China dominates the market. According to the IEA's 2019 Global Outlook report, China accounted for more than half of electric car sales globally in 2019, and 3.35 million of the global total to-date. Europe takes second place with 560,000 sales, followed by the United States, with roughly 330,000 electric passenger cars sold in 2019. Despite rapid year-over-year growth, electric cars and plug-in hybrids accounted for just 2.6% of global passenger car sales in 2019, according to the IEA's 2019 Outlook. Looking at 2020, the IEA expects electric cars to outperform the automobile industry as a whole this year. Sales of electric cars are expected to be in line with 2019's total, while the global passenger car market is expected to decline by 15%, largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, experts say. Facing the latter-half of 2020, a new report from Statista sourced data from Clean Technica to determine the estimated sales of electric vehicles from January through June 2020 and rank the best-selling models in the first half of 2020. In the slideshow above, discover which electric vehicles car shoppers are driving home the most in 2020. Related: |

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