London (CNN Business)Electric vehicles grabbed a much bigger...

London (CNN Business)Electric vehicles grabbed a much bigger share of the global car market last year as sales more than doubled despite turbulent economic conditions and a severe shortage of computer chips.Global sales of battery electric vehicles increased to 4.5 million last year from 2.1 million in 2020, according to data from consultancy LMC Automotive. Electric cars made up 6.3% of global vehicle sales in 2021, tripling their market share from 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic.Overall passenger vehicle sales remain depressed, with just under 72 million rolling off dealer lots worldwide after the pandemic caused a shortage of computer chips that forced many automakers to temporarily close plants. More than 80 million passenger vehicles were sold in 2019.Al Bedwell, director of global powertrain at LMC Automotive, told CNN Business that the chip shortage "perversely sort of helped" boost electric vehicle sales."Certainly, in Europe and certainly in China ... very often it was the low emission, new generation of electric vehicles that got prioritized, because they're the ones that were needed," he said. Consumers wanted to buy electric cars, and automakers needed to sell them to meet regulatory targets, he added."It was a prime opportunity I think for the industry to focus on those," said Bedwell.