Global sales of BEVs reached around 14mn in 2023, meaning almost one-in-five cars sold was battery electric, according to the IEA’s Clean Energy Market Monitor, released today.
Global BEV sales last year were 35pc higher than sales of just over 10mn in 2022 and more than six times the level in 2019. During the period from 2019 to 2023 over 35 million BEVs were sold globally, with an average annual growth rate of 60pc.
China remains the largest market for BEVs with 8mn vehicles sold — almost 60pc of global sales. Registrations increased by around 35pc in China in 2023, despite the phase out of purchase subsidies in 2023.
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The European Union is the second largest BEV market with around 2.4mn sales, an increase of around 20pc on 2022.
Around 1.4mn BEVs were sold in the US, an increase of more than 40pc compared to sales in 2022 thanks to the impact of tax incentives under the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
BEVs now reduce global oil demand annually by around 0.55 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, the report says.
“Without the impact of electric cars, global oil demand would have risen above the pre-pandemic level, instead of hovering still slightly below in energy equivalent terms,” says the IEA report.
A separate report by Automotive Market Research Firm Jato Dynamics found that European registrations were largely being driven by fleet uptake.
According to Jato's data BEV registrations made by fleets and businesses rose by 51pc in 2023, compared to a 4pc rise for private buyers. Only 39pc of overall BEV registrations were made by private buyers, down nine percentage points from 2022.
“Although growth stalled in November and then fell sharply in December, incentives are continuing to support BEV uptake across Europe. But when looking at the data by registration type, it becomes clear that incentives are only currently appealing to companies, fleets and rentals,” says Felipe Munoz, Global Analyst at JATO Dynamics.
The Tesla Model Y became Europe’s most popular model in 2023 with 251,604 sales – the first time an electric model has led the rankings.
“The soaring popularity of the Model Y and price cuts across its range helped Tesla record its largest market share since arriving in Europe. Tesla has the right product in the right place at the right time,” says Munoz.
The Model Y was the best-selling vehicle in Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, and Finland.
Regionally, Scandinavia leads Europe by a significant margin with BEVs representing 46pc of total sales, followed by Northern and Central Europe (19pc market share), Southern Europe (9.4 pc) and Eastern Europe (5.3 pc).
Tom is an experienced business writer, specialised in the energy transition
Tom is passionate about Electric Vehicles and how Tesla, BYD, Rivian, Lucid and others are transforming automotive
