Surge in Electric Vehicle Registrations: 1.5 Million New Battery-Only Electric Cars in 2023

In 2023, the European Union saw a significant boost in the adoption of battery-only electric passenger cars, with 1.5 million new registrations. This brings the total number of battery-only electric cars in the EU to 4.5 million, reflecting a remarkable 48.5% increase from 2022's total of 3.0 million.

Battery-only electric cars accounted for 14.6% of new registrations in 2023, continuing a trend of rapid growth. This share has climbed steadily over recent years, from below 1% until 2018 to 5.3% in 2020, 9.0% in 2021, 12.1% in 2022, and now 14.6% in 2023.

According to Eurostat data, as of December 31, 2023, battery-only electric cars represented 1.7% of the total stock of passenger cars in the EU, with significant variations across member states. Denmark led with 7.1% of all passenger cars being electric, followed by Sweden (5.9%), Luxembourg (5.1%), and the Netherlands (5.0%). In contrast, 14 countries had shares below 1%, with Cyprus, Greece, and Poland recording the lowest at 0.2%.