Global electric vehicle sales recorded a year-on-year growth of 35.2% in 2023, to 14.2 million units.A decade earlier, in 2013, this sale was only 0.2 million units, according to EV-Volumes.Electric vehicles use one or more electric motors to propel themselves, rather than an internal combustion engine.Types of electric vehicles include: 

• Battery electric (BEV).
• Fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV).
• Plug-in hybrids (PHEV).

Global electric vehicle sales

The modern electric vehicle industry is in its infancy and has undergone substantial changes in recent years. With a compound annual growth rate of 80.8%, global EV sales increased to 14.2 million units in 2023 from 6.5 thousand units in 2010.For the following years, analysts have predicted a higher penetration of BEVs than the growth of PHEVs. Although a significant number of suppliers have entered the EV industry in recent years, demand for EVs has been slower than predicted by industry experts, according to Workhorse Group

Industry and infrastructure

The growth of the electric vehicle industry is dependent on factors such as the following:

• Continued development of product technology, especially batteries.
• Tax and financial incentives
• Environmental awareness of customers.
• Development of electric vehicle supply.
• Perceptions of the quality, safety, design, performance and cost of electric vehicles.
• Perceptions of the total cost of ownership of electric vehicles, including initial purchase price and operation and maintenance costs.
• Ability of electric vehicles to compete successfully with vehicles powered by internal combustion engines.
• Technological innovation.

China

In this country, the Implementation Opinions require that, by the end of 2025, the capacity of electric vehicle charging and support facilities be further upgraded to support more than 20 million electric vehicles.These rulings encourage local governments to establish quality service-based subsidy standards to further incentivize the development of high-quality facilities; and expand subsidies for demonstration and development facilities, such as high-power charging facilities and vehicle-grid interaction, to promote industry transformation and improvement.