2024 Electric Vehicle Statistics

Number of Electric Vehicles Sold in Car Markets Worldwide

In 2021, there were 6.6 million global EV sales, a 121 percent increase from 2020. In the past decade, more than 16.9 million electric vehicles have been sold, an increase of nearly 85,000 percent. On average, EV sales increase worldwide by 110 percent per year, with the largest increase occurring between 2010 and 2011, when 531 percent more EVs were sold in the latter year. As of January 2023, 2022 data was not yet available.

The U.S. Electric Car Market by Year

Electric vehicles are becoming more and more popular in the U.S. as well as abroad. From 2000 to 2021, total EV sales in the U.S. increased by 15,214 percent, with an average year-over-year increase of 37 percent. We’ve come a long way from 2000, when less than 10,000 EVs were sold, with 1.4 million EVs sold in 2021.¹ 

States With the Most Electric Vehicles Registered

California has the highest number of EVs registered. They make up nearly 40 percent of all registered EV vehicles in the U.S. You might think that’s because California is the most populated state. California’s population is definitely a factor in the Golden State’s outsize representation of EVs, but, as of 2020, California only held 13 percent of all private and commercial vehicle registrations in the country.

Florida, on the other hand, has a proportional representation of electric vehicles per registered vehicles, accounting for 7 percent of both electric vehicles registered and the total number of vehicles registered, according to Federal Highway Administration data.²

So, why are electric vehicles so popular in California? It may be because of CARB ZEV, the Zero-Emission Vehicle Program from the California Air Resources Board’s Advance Clean Car package.

First adapted in 1990, the program aims to improve air quality and diminish the emissions of greenhouse gasses by reducing the amount of smog-causing pollutants from passenger vehicles. Other states with high electric vehicle registration rates have since adopted this program, too, such as New York and Massachusetts.³

Leading Electric Car Manufacturers

Tesla is no longer the most popular EV manufacturer in the world. In 2021, it sold nearly 1 million electric vehicles, compared to less than 600,000 sold by the second-largest EV manufacturer, BYD. However, by the end of 2022, BYD surpassed Tesla, accounting for 18 percent of the market share compared to 13 percent.⁴

The Most Popular Electric Car Models

Not surprisingly, the most-purchased all-electric vehicle in 2019 was a Tesla — specifically, the Model 3, which accounted for 65 percent of the EV market in the U.S. When you consider plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) that use both electricity and gas, the Tesla Model 3 still reigns supreme, with nearly half of the total EV market share in the U.S., according to the most recent data available.⁵

The Future of Electric Cars

With the Biden administration’s plan to have 50 percent of vehicles sold be electric by 2030, invest in more charging infrastructure, and create more stringent targets for fleet emissions, McKinsey predicts that 65 percent of vehicles sold in the U.S. will be electric by that year. The consulting firm further predicts that other states will follow California’s adoption of CARB ZEV, leading to more EVs and more ports to charge them at.⁶

In terms of the number of sales worldwide, there are two different predictions for the future.

• STEPS: The Stated Policies scenario is more conservative, assuming that the government will not reach all of its goals. It takes into account both existing policies and those under development and considers the direction of energy systems without direction from policymakers. STEPS is not designed to achieve a particular outcome, unlike APS below.
• APS: The Announced Pleades Scenario, in contrast, assumes that the U.S.’s energy targets will be met in full by 2030, leading to higher sales of EVs.⁷

One consequence of increased EV adoption is oil displacement — decreased demand for oil. While you might assume that decreased demand would cause the price of oil to drop as the invisible hand of the market adjusts, Bloomberg predicts that prices will stay elevated and volatile with decreasing investments in a new supply of oil.

From 2010 to 2021, EVs displaced 235 million units (barrels of oil) worldwide, and in the U.S. alone, over 83 million barrels. Year over year, the world saw an average increase of 85 percent more oil barrels displaced, with the largest jump occurring between 2010 and 2011.⁸ This correlates with the largest increase in EV sales worldwide.

Another consequence of EV adoption is lost tax revenue for the sale of liquid fuels, which some people fear may lead to an energy crisis.

A significant factor that limits EV sales is a lack of publicly available charging stations. Most people with EVs don’t drive them on long trips, as there may not be enough charging stations on their route to support longer rides. However, the number of charging stations is increasing, which should correlate with more EV sales.

By Country

As of 2021, China had the highest number of charging stations, with more than 1 million. The U.S. was second with 114,000, about one-tenth of China’s supply. Of course, these numbers don’t take into account the number of licensed drivers per population, so they don’t consider how many charging stations may be necessary.

By State

Along with the highest number of EV registrations, California also has the highest number of charging ports in the U.S., according to data from EV Adoption.⁹ There are more than 34,000 ports throughout the state. However, when you take into account the ratio of charging stations per EV, California actually ranks second to last, with 27 EVs for every charging port.

The state with the worst ratio is New Jersey, which has 41 EVs for every charging port. So while the adoption of EVs is high in these states, the charging infrastructure has not caught up with the sales.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Wyoming has four EVs for every charging station. That said, there are only just over 700 EVs in the state.

If you’ve ever shopped for electric vehicle insurance, you may have noticed higher costs than you’d find when insuring non-EVs. Electric cars are more expensive to insure due to their specialized features and replacement parts, such as electric batteries. As a result, you may need to take them to specialized repair shops. You can expect to pay about 15 percent more for electric vehicle insurance, with an average annual cost of $2,426 compared to $2,071 across all vehicle types, according to AutoInsurance.com data.

One thing the world can agree on is the rising popularity of electric vehicles. No matter the country, sales are increasing year over year, and governments are investing more in charging infrastructure, which will increase adoption even more. Hopefully, this adoption will reduce the emissions of greenhouse gasses and pollutants, making the air more breathable for us all. Explore more auto insurance research like this for further insights.

For data on the cost of auto insurance, we depend on our own proprietary data gained from over 20 years of experience in the auto insurance market. Additionally, our research term analyzed data from third-party sources, including the following:

• Bloomberg
• California Air Resources Board
• CleanTechnica
• EV Adoption
• Federal Highway Administration
• International Energy Agency
• McKinsey
• U.S. Department of Energy
• U.S. Department of Transportation