Battery-only electric cars continued to increase in 2022

In 2022, the number of battery-only electric passenger cars in the EU countries almost reached 3.0 million, which is a +55% increase compared with 2021 (1.9 million).

The highest annual rate of increase in battery-only electric passenger cars in the period 2013-2022 was noted between 2019 and 2020 (+85%), followed by the increase in 2021 compared with 2020 (+78%). The share of battery-only electric passenger cars in the total number of passenger cars grew from 0.02% in 2013 to 1.19% in 2022.

This information comes from data published by Eurostat. The article presents a handful of findings from the more detailed Statistics Explained articles on passenger cars in the EU and transport equipment.

The overall share of battery-only electric passenger cars is expected to grow considerably over the coming years in the run-up to the 2035 EU ban on the sale of new combustion engine cars. The ban is linked to the Sustainable Development Indicator on reducing CO2 emissions from new passenger cars.

When it comes to the total number of passenger cars (running on petrol or diesel including hybrids; or on all types of alternative energy including battery-only), it has grown in almost all of the EU members over the last five years, reaching a total of nearly 253 million passenger cars in 2022 (+14% compared with 2013).

The highest share of the new passenger cars (aged 2 years and less) among the EU members was registered in Luxembourg (18% of all passenger cars in Luxembourg), followed by Germany and Sweden (both 15%), Belgium, Ireland and Austria (all 13%). Meanwhile, the oldest passenger cars (20 years or older) were registered in Estonia (34%), Romania (31%), Finland (30%), Poland (29%) and Portugal (26%).

Source: Eurostat