By the Numbers: Electric Vehicles

An electric car charging station. Photo courtesy of Power Shift (https://powershiftco.com.au).

An electric car charging station. Photo courtesy of Power Shift.

In honor of Earth Day on April 22, we take a look at the changing world of electric vehicles.

1

China led the world in the sale of plug-in electric passenger car sales in 2017, with 579,000 – or 2.3 percent of all car sales in the country.

2

The U.S. was behind China in the sale of plug-in electric cars in 2017, with 199,826 sold, or 1.2 percent of all vehicles sold.

3

While Norway placed third in plug-in electric car sales in 2017, the 58,190 electric vehicles sold represented 36.7 percent of all vehicles sold in that country last year.

10

The number of governments involved in the Electric Vehicle Initiative (Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States). Collectively, the EVI members account for most of the global EV market and stock (95 percent of all electric car registrations and 95 percent of the total stock monitored in this assessment).

25

The number of battery electric vehicle models available to North American consumers. In 2008 there were just three models to choose from.

26

The number of plug-in hybrid vehicle models available to North American consumers. In 2008 there were zero plug-in hybrids available.

$120

The approximate cost to charge your Tesla to make the cross-country trip from Los Angeles to New York City. The 2,800-mile trip in a conventional vehicle operating at a generous 35-mpg would require approximately 80 gallons of gas at the average cost of $2.663 a gallon, amounting to about $213 for the gas to make the journey.

47,117

The number of public and workplace charging points for electric vehicles in the U.S. in 2017. That compares to just 430 locations in 2008 and 12,000 in 2012.

50,000

Roughly the number of EVs sold by Tesla in the U.S. in 2017, making it the best-selling electric vehicle, ahead of Chevrolet (43,669 electric vehicles), Toyota (20,936), BMW (20,733) and Ford (19,589).

Sources:  statista.com, International Energy Agency