Electric vehicles in Brazil: a patent-based analysis

The global automotive market was rocked last year due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. Production fell by more than 15 percent, while sales were down by more than 8 percent from 2019. However, there is plenty of optimism regarding 2021, with expectations of growth in the number of global vehicle sales. 

Some 70 million units are set to be sold around the world by the end of the year, with the trend driven by electric vehicles, including plug-in hybrid cars. According to an article by S&P in May, electric vehicles made up 2.5 percent of the global market in 2019, but are now expected to reach between 6 and 8 percent by the end of 2021.

Brazil is the world’s ninth-largest vehicle producer. And even amid the slowdown of the global industry last year, the country sold the seventh-highest number of vehicles in 2020, jumping one position in the ranking from the year before and underlining Brazil’s importance to the international market.

Brazil’s automotive market is well balanced between imports and exports, with amounts spent on each coming in practically equal in 2020.

Regarding electric vehicles, the growth in Brazil’s sales has been substantial. In 2020, sales of electric cars jumped 66 percent in comparison to the previous year, according to the Brazilian Electric Vehicle Association (ABVE). And the increased popularity of these vehicles...