Global finance giant HSBC has predicted low-carbon vehicles, led by electric vehicles, will be a bigger global market by 2020 than renewable energy.

This week's 'Sizing the climate economy' report predicts that 8.65m electric vehicles and 9.23m plug-in and hybrid electric vehicles will be sold globally in 2020, up from about 5,000 and 657,000 in 2009.

The total low-carbon transport market, including fuel-efficiency measures and switches to trains and buses, is expected to increase from $US113 million in 2009 to $US677 billion a year in 2020.