Most of the world’s EVs are found in one country, where more than a quarter of all new cars sold are electric – and growing fast.
As of 2024, China is the country with the most electric cars in the world – and by a long shot.
In 2021, there were 417 million registered vehicles in China, 319 million of which were passenger cars.
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Of that, 13.1 million were “new energy vehicles” – those with electric, hybrid or hydrogen fuel cell powertrains.
Pure electric vehicles comprised 81.6 per cent of this category, meaning there were approximately 10.6 million electric cars on the roads in China in 2021. This figure is growing rapidly.
In 2022, more than 4.4 million new electric vehicles were sold in China, and in 2023, annual new EV sales reached 9.49 million. As of January 2024, we estimate there are around 20 million electric vehicles on the road in China – the most of any country in the world.
Although it lags behind China in terms of sheer volume, Norway leads the charge for proportionate electric vehicle sales not just in Europe but the entire world, with more than 80 per cent of the 126,953 new vehicles sold in Norway in 2023 being pure electric.
So why is China so hungry for EVs?
In China, electric vehicles have reached price parity with internal combustion equivalents, driving the growth as new EV start-ups proliferate in the local Chinese new-car market. Not only that, China effectively owns the global electric vehicle supply chain.
Investment bank Morgan Stanley estimates 90 per cent of the global electric vehicle battery supply chain resides in China. Stroll through a shopping centre in China and between the usual clothes and cosmetic stores you’ll find tiny showrooms from electric vehicle brands you’ve never heard of.
Roads in Chinese cities are full of electric vehicles with mysterious badges and names, many of which are from start-ups that eventually go bust.
What is the second biggest market for electric cars?
Elsewhere in the world, the United States comes second for electric vehicles on its roads – by a very long way.
In 2022, there were 2,442,300 electric vehicles registered in the United States of the 99,946,870 private and commercially owned automobiles, according to data from official government sources.
More than 1.1 million new electric vehicles were sold in the USA in 2023, putting the national electric vehicle fleet at an estimated 3.5 million as of January 2024.
Europe is not too far behind. In 2023, there were 3,860,233 battery electric vehicles registered across the 27 nations of the European Union, according to official data from the European Commission.
At home in Australia, the Electric Vehicle Council estimates there are 109,000 battery electric vehicles on local roads as of 2023.
In 2023, 87,217 electric passenger, SUV and light commercial vehicles were sold in Australia – more than twice the EV sales of the year prior – but still a relatively tiny percentage of the total 1,216,780 new vehicles sold.
Electric vehicle sales are expected to grow rapidly in the coming years as governments continue to incentivise consumers, but also as the cost to manufacture them drops.
American private research firm the Rocky Mountain Institute estimates EVs will reach price parity with fossil fuel vehicles in Europe in 2024, the US in 2026, and that electric cars will account for two-thirds of global new vehicle sales by 2030.
Morgan Stanley estimates half of all new cars sold by 2050 will be battery electric vehicles – and if you ask us, most of them will continue to be in China.
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