EV Ownership Around the World
See how EVs are taking the entire world by storm.
The UK and the States aren’t the only countries deciding to go electric - electric revolution is taking the whole world by storm.
Europe
Europe is the leader in the adoption of electric vehicles – which is no surprise, seeing as the European Parliament voted to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars in 2035. In 2022, 12.1% of all newly registered cars in Europe were electric – that’s a 45% increase from the previous year’s 8.3%.
According to data from 2023, Germany are the current leaders, with 1,089,854 fully electric cars. The UK comes in second, with 641,801, followed closely by France and Norway, 605,791 and 603697 respectively. In 2022, a whopping four out of five cars sold in Norway were fully electric.
European leaders have encouraged and welcomed the electric revolution, with many countries providing incentives to go green. In 2008, France introduced a ‘bonus-malus’ CO2 based tax system to penalise fossil fuel vehicle sales. England and Scotland have offered grants to help people switch to electric, and in Sweden in 2011, the Swedish government approved a 200 million kr (just under £14 million) program to provide a subsidy of 40,000 kr (just under £3000) for the purchase of 5000 electric cars. The program was a success, and registrations for green cars increased five-fold in July 2014.
Many European car manufacturers produce EVs: Renault, Peugeot, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi all produce at least three electric cars available for purchase in the UK.
North America
It is estimated that there are around 3 million electric cars in the USA – but this only makes up 1% of the total number of cars on America’s roads.
The Sunshine State, California, takes the lead for the state with most registered EVs, counting in at 563,070 in 2022. This is unsurprising as it is the home to EV giants Tesla. In fact, 17.7% of all cars sold in California are electric, and 42% of EVs in the USA are sold in California.
Florida takes second place, with 95,640, followed by Texas, with 80,900. The States with the fewest amount of registered EVs are North Dakota, Wyoming, and South Dakota – the first of which only had 380 registered battery-powered vehicles last summer.
Tesla only produces EVs, but other American car manufacturers also offer EV models: Ford, Jeep, and Chevrolet have electric offerings, and Buick plans to release an EV in 2024.
South America
Although the volumes are much smaller in South America than North America or Europe, there is no doubt that EV sales are rising. EV registration more than doubled in 2021, with nearly 25,000 EVs sold that year.
EVs only made up 0.7% of car sales in Latin America; Brazil taking the lead with 13,000 units purchased in 2021. Mexico is the only South American country that manufactures EVs.
Companies are racing to invest money in the South American electric car market. VW have announced they will make a one-billion-euro investment in South America by 2026, as well as hoping to launch five new electric and ‘fuel-flex’ models to the Brazilian market by 2025. The VW ID.4 is expected to debut in Brazil at the end of this year.
Zacua is the first all-electric car brand in Mexico, and offers two EV models, the MX2 and the MX3.
Africa
Out of South Africa’s 12 million vehicles, only 1000 of them are estimated to be electric. In Kenya, there are 2.2 million vehicles on the road – and only 350 of them are electric.
Although a slow start to the electric revolution, Africa is certainly getting ready. Kenya has plans for EVs to account for 5% of all car imports by 2025 and hopes to do so by cutting the import duties on electric vehicles in half.
In Ghana, Rwanda, the Seychelles, and Mauritius have all reduced or even eliminated import duties. Egypt plans to manufacture 20,000 EVs per year starting in 2023, and Namibia plans to have 10,000 on its roads by 2030. South Africa are aiming higher, with a goal of 2.9 million by 2050.
And its not just the cars that are going electric – there are dozens of start ups that aim to make public transportation greener, by electrifying the buses, motorcycles, and tuk-tuks, as well as fishing boats on Lake Victoria.
Ugandan company Kiira Motors Corporation produced the continent’s first EV: the Kiira EV. The same company produce the Kayoola EVS, which is a fully electric, 90 passenger city bus. The bus was used as airport transfer service during the EU-Uganda Business Forum in 2020.
Asia
Over in Asia, the EV market is booming. China has dominated the Asian – and global - electric car market for a while now, and we are seeing other countries grow rapidly behind them.
The electric vehicle industry in China accounts for 57.4% of EV produced globally. The reason China have been so successful within the industry is because they have a monopoly on the EV battery market – they control a lot of the necessary materials, such as cobalt, lithium hydroxide, and graphite. One-quarter of passenger cars sold in China in 2022 were all electric or plug in hybrid.
Sales in Southeast Asia increased by 35% year on year in Q3 of 2022, with Thailand taking first place for the highest EV sales volume. Following in its place was Indonesia and Singapore.
In Japan, new EVs accounted for 36.2% of total new car sales and plans to transition to 100% electric car sales by 2050.
There are many Asian car manufacturers offering models in the UK, such as Kia, Hyundai, Mazda, Subaru, and Toyota.
Oceania
In Australia, electric vehicle sales in the first half of this year is already higher than the total number sold in 2022. According to Behyad Jafari, the Electric Vehicle Council’s chief executive, the demand in Australia was double the sales figures, but the companies were unable to fulfil orders, and ended up opting for ICE cars to avoid waiting for production.
On the flipside, Australia host the “worst electric vehicle policy in the world” – a ‘ZLEV’ (Zero and Low Emission Vehicle Distance-based Charge), which is a 2.6 cent charge driven by EVs inside or outside the state of Victoria. It is place as EVs drivers do not pay the Commonwealth fuel excise as they do not purchase petrol. The money paid for the ZLEV goes to the same cause as the fuel excise – maintenance of road infrastructure.
In New Zealand in 2022, 16,223 purely electric vehicles were registered, compared to just 6,897 the year prior. This follows 2021’s ‘clean car rebate’, where the government allows buyers of new or used EVs to claim back as much as $8000 per vehicle.
Antarctica
It’s no surprise that there is little electric vehicle activity in Antarctica – that’s not to say there is none, though!
The Venturi Antarctica is the first zero emissions polar exploration vehicle. It has fold down bench seats for up to six people, along with equipment, and a second battery used to extend the initial range of 50 kilometres (31 miles). The battery and other components have been built to withstand the stubborn Antarctic temperatures and uses a continuous track system like the kind you’d find on a snowmobile.
Adventurer Chris Ramsey and his wife Julie are taking on the Pole to Pole challenge – 27,000 km from 1823 Magnetic North Pole to the South Pole in Antarctica – in a fully electric Nissan Ariya. The Ramsey’s are EV enthusiasts; they because the first people to complete the Mongol Rally in an EV.
Nissan are proud to sponsor the incredible journey and have kitted the Ariya out with advanced all-wheel-control technology, 39-inch snow tyres, and an even an integrated espresso machine. The couple will charge the car using lightweight wind turbines and solar panels, which will be towed in a prototype trailer, so they can make the most of the high winds and long daylight hours to keep the car topped up.
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