Electric Car Usage Worldwide

Oct 13, 2015

Fuel prices wildly fluctuate, dropping for a moment then suddenly skyrocket for an indeterminate amount of time. This uncertainty, coupled with stricter emission regulations, has led to increasing production and sales of electric cars. But are all-electric cars as popular as we’re led to believe? Well, let’s take a look at a few electric vehicle (EV) basics first.

Electricity Usage

Unlike traditional fuel based vehicles, EV’s don’t use Miles per Gallon (MPG). Electricity can’t be measured in gallons, therefore EV fuel economy is measured as kWh per 100 miles (kWh/100m). Like gas prices, electricity rates fluctuate, although it’s much more rapidly. It’s fairly well-known that electric companies charge far less per kWh during off-peak hours, with the cheapest rates being late at night. Needless to say, EV owners have more electric usage than non-EV owners, especially during off-peak times.

Since we’re on the topic of fuel consumption, let’s take a look at the top 10 EV miles per charge.

Electric Cars With the Highest Number of Miles Per Charge
Rank	Electric Car Model	Base Price	Miles on One Charge
1	Tesla Model S 85 kWh	$79,900	265 Miles
2	RAV4 EV	$49,800	103 Miles
3	Fiat 500e	$32,300	87 Miles
4	Mercedes B-Class Electric Drive	$41,450	85 Miles
5	Nissan Leaf	$29,010	84 Miles
6	Volkswagen e-Golf	$35,445	83 Miles
7	Chevy Spark EV	$26,685	82 Miles
8	BMW i3	$41,350	81 Miles
9	Focus Electric	$29,170	76 Miles
10	Smart ForTwo Coupe	$25,000	68 Miles

Today’s EV Sales and the Future

At this point in time, EV sales are expected to rise to astronomical levels. Should the current trend continue as is, the global sale of hybrid and pure electric cars will rise to over $185 billion in 2025. As EPA restriction become tighter and we, as vehicle owners, expect better fuel economy with every new model, we’ll be seeing EV’s more on the road every year.

As of December 2014, more than 712,000 highway-capable plug-in electric passenger cars and utility vans have been sold worldwide. The United States is the leading market with a stock of over 290,000 plug-in electric cars sold since 2008, which equals out to 41% of global sales. Japan ranks second with over 108,000 units sold since 2009 (15%), followed by China with over 83,000 plug-in electric passenger cars sold since 2008 (12%).

Top 10 Countries by PEV Market Share of Total New Car Sales
Rank	Country	2014 PEV market share (%)	2013 PEV market share (%)
1	Norway	13.84 %	6.10 %
2	Netherlands	3.87 %	5.55 %
3	Iceland	2.71 %	0.94 %
4	Estonia	1.57 %	0.73 %
5	Sweden	1.53 %	0.71 %
6	Japan	1.06 %	0.91 %
7	Denmark	0.88 %	0.29 %
8	Switzerland	0.75 %	0.44 %
9	US	0.72 %	0.60 %
10	France(1)	0.70 %	0.83 %

Note:

(1) The French market share corresponds to all-electric passenger cars and utility vans only. In France PHEVs are accounted together with regular hybrids (HEVs)