The State of the EV Revolution in 2023

One in every seven cars sold during Q1 2023 was an Electric Vehicle, and over 14.5 million EVs are expected to be sold by the end of this year. 

That would put the total global EV stock to over 40 million. 2022 saw over 10 million new electric car sales globally, which is equivalent to the total number of electric vehicles that existed around the world in 2020, just two short years ago. The growth is mind-boggling. By 2030, conservative estimates expect 138 million EVs to be humming along streets around the world, which would be an explosive 26% cumulative annual growth rate from 2021 to 2030. By 2030, 25 million new EVs will be sold annually

Infobyte: Global Electric Car Stock (Millions) Over the Years

Embracing Electrification

The last few years of EV sales growth have been remarkable. In 2021, global EV sales doubled 2020 figures and tripled 2019 figures with many announcing that the Electric Vehicle revolution so many have been talking about for years, had finally arrived. 2022 showed 57% YoY growth, selling 10.2 million EVs worldwide; this meant that 13% of all new car sales around the world was electric in 2022. Much of the world began to wonder if EV sales could continue at this pace, while inflationary pressures and talks of recessions grew louder in the last half of 2022 and much of 2023. 

Fortunately, 2023 shows no signs of slowing down. In Q1 2023, one in seven cars sold around the world was an electric vehicle (14.3%).

BYD and Tesla, China and America’s respective leading EV manufacturers posted record sales for several months in 2023; BYD alone sold 641,000 EVs in the first half of 2023, out-selling Tesla’s 564,000 cars sold. Analysts are expecting 14.5 million EVs to be sold by the end of 2023, marking a sizeable 45% YoY growth. 

Infobyte: Global Electric Sales Over the Years, Electric Car Sales in 2022 by Geography

There is also growth in Heavy Duty EV sales, though numbers pale in comparison to electric passenger car figures; the numbers also fluctuate widely from a low of 98,000 sales in 2021 to a high of 173,000 sales back in 2017, due to the nature of B2B commercial fleet purchasing and batch-orders. 2022 saw nearly 125,000 heavy duty electric vehicles sold, and 2023 sales are anybody’s bet. But conversations across industries, from freight transport to heavy machinery and mining, all seem to be talking about decarbonizing their fleets as they look to retire their combustion-engine powered trucks and replace them with an electrified fleet.

Infobyte: Global Heavy Duty EV Sales (‘000)

To read more about the state of the electric vehicles revolution in 2023 – read the full report here.