The electrification shift
The system-level decade the other three records deployed into: EVs, grid storage and solar each crossed from policy aspiration to mainstream volume. Part of the history record behind the 2026 roadmap.
The record, sourced
Figures below are drawn from the IEA Global EV Outlook series, the IEA-PVPS Snapshot and Trends reports, BloombergNEF's battery price surveys and storage outlooks, Ember, and national ministry statistics: each figure names its source. This page is historical only: the projections live on the roadmap.
Milestones of the shift
| Year | Milestone | What it tells us |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | The starting line: ~1.2 million EVs on the road worldwide (under 0.2% of cars), grid battery storage crosses 1 GWh cumulative for the first time, cumulative solar PV reaches 181 GW; the Paris Agreement sets the coordination frame in December (IEA, Zero Carbon Analytics, IEA-PVPS) | Every headline number of 2025 started from near zero within one decade |
| 2018 | China's NEV mandate takes formal effect, requiring rising credit targets from every manufacturer and importer (ICCT) | The decade's largest market moved by mandate, not subsidy alone |
| 2022 | The US Inflation Reduction Act commits ~US$369 billion to climate and clean energy: the largest single US clean-energy investment (Rhodium Group) | Policy architecture diversified: mandate (China), fleet CO₂ standards (EU), tax credits (US) |
| 2023 | Battery packs reach US$97/kWh (BNEF): the first year battery vehicles reach cost parity with combustion in China (BNEF via Energy Storage News) | The decade's principal material cause was the battery cost curve, not any single policy |
| 2024 | Solar passes 2.25 TW cumulative and supplies more than 10% of world electricity; at least 34 countries add over 1 GW each; EV sales exceed 17 million at over 20% of new car sales (IEA-PVPS, IEA) | Variable, daytime-concentrated generation at this scale is what made storage and grid-interactive inverters commercially necessary |
| 2025 | The 100 GW era: annual grid-scale storage additions reach 112 GW / 307 GWh (up 48% year on year); EV sales pass 20 million at 25% of new cars; 39 countries exceed 10% EV sales share; battery packs hit US$108/kWh with stationary packs at a record US$70/kWh (BloombergNEF, IEA GEVO 2026, Ember, BNEF) | Electrification stopped depending on policy support to sustain momentum |
The decade in numbers
| Metric | 2015 | 2025 (or latest) | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| EV share of new car sales | <1% | 25% (20+ million sold) | IEA Global EV Outlook 2026 |
| Annual grid-scale storage additions | ~1 GWh cumulative base | 112 GW / 307 GWh added in one year | BloombergNEF, Zero Carbon Analytics |
| Cumulative solar PV | 181 GW | 2.25 TW (end-2024); ~600 GW added in 2024 alone; >10% of world electricity | IEA-PVPS Snapshot 2025 |
| Li-ion pack price, constant 2024 US$/kWh | 310 (2015) | ~79 (2024); 108 nominal (2025); stationary 70 | BNEF via World Nuclear Report, BNEF |
| Public EV charge points | ~7,400 | >7 million | IEA via EV Infrastructure News |
| Time to scale annual additions from 10 GW to 100 GW | Solar: 8 years · Wind: 15 years | Storage: 4 years | BloombergNEF |
Why this page sits in a product benchmark
The three product records (modules, batteries, inverters) describe supply-side evolution; this page is the demand context they deployed into, and the causation runs both ways. EV battery demand (over 950 GWh in 2024, per the IEA) ran down the cost curve that made residential and grid storage viable; solar at terawatt scale created the daytime-concentrated generation profile that made storage necessary; and that same system condition is why the inverter became a grid-interactive device rather than a passive converter. Each product horizon on the roadmap assumes this demand backdrop: it is stated here so the assumption is visible and sourced.
Why the record earns the projections
The decade's clearest speed lesson: once a technology's cost curve and manufacturing base mature, adoption compresses: storage took four years to scale annual additions from 10 GW to 100 GW against solar's eight and wind's fifteen (BloombergNEF). And the strongest calibration warning runs the other way: stationary pack prices reached by 2025 a level most 2015-era forecasts had projected for 2030: sourced forecasts have historically been too slow on cost, which is worth remembering whenever a horizon on the roadmap looks aggressive.
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Condensed from the Solar Analytica report "The global electrification shift, 2015–2025"; sources named inline. Last review: July 2026.