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Global EV Sales for 2022

By Roland Irle, EV-Volumes

Global EV sales continued strong. A total of 10,5 million new BEVs and PHEVs were delivered during 2022, an increase of +55 % compared to 2021. The regional growth pattern is shifting, though. Following 2 years of steep sales increases in Europe, EVs gained only +15 % over 2021 there. Weak overall vehicle markets and persistent component shortages have taken their toll, exacerbated by the war in Ukraine. EV sales in USA and Canada increased by 48 % year-on-year, despite a weak overall light vehicle market which plunged by 8 % during 2022 y/y. The 2nd half of 2022 saw a cautious recovery of auto markets as numbers compared to the low results of 2021 H2. Global light vehicle sales for 2022, 81 million units, were still -0,5 % lower than in 2021 and -15 % below pre-2020 levels.

China NEV sales defied all headwinds the country faced otherwise (real estate crisis, Covid outbreaks and lock-downs) and increased by another +82 % year-on-year. BYD more than tripled sales to 1,85 million units, making it the #1 in the global sales ranking, if their 944 500 PHEV sales are included. Counting BEVs only, Tesla still leads by a wide margin with 1,31 million units delivered in 2022.

PHEVs stood for 27 % of global Plug-in sales in 2022 compared to 29 % in 2021. While their sales volumes still increased, their share in the PEV mix is in decline, facing headwinds from incentive cuts and improving BEV offers. Sales growth is increasingly depending on the degree of electrification. While BEVs grew by +59 % and PHEVs by +46 %, non-chargeable Full Hybrids grew by +15 % and Mild Hybrids by +1 % y-o-y. Global sales of vehicles which can be charged from the grid (10,5 m) were higher than for non-chargeable vehicles (8,4 m) for the first time in 2022. ICE-only vehicle sales declined by -7 %; their share in global light vehicle sales is 76,8 %, compared to 82,2 % in 2021. FCEV remain irrelevant for the electrification of light vehicles; their deliveries stagnated at 15 400 units in 2022, which is 0,02 % of the global, annual light vehicle volume.

Rapid EV adoption in weak auto markets has boosted EV shares further. BEVs (9,5 %) and PHEVs (3,5 %) stood for 13 % of global light vehicle sales in 2022, compared to 8,3 % in 2021. Norway had the highest market share of EVs (BEV 71 % + PHEV 8 %), China had 27 %, Europe 20,8 % and USA 7,2 %. The fastest growing markets were Indonesia (from 1k to 10k), India with +223 % to 50k, nearly all BEVs, New Zealand +151 % to 23k for 20 % market share. EV supply and adoption is now spreading rapidly into the global south.

November and December of 2022 saw demand distortions by coming reductions of EV grants in Europe and China and the IRA in the US for 2023. Demand for EVs and ICEs alike were pulled into 2022 or pushed into 2023. We expect irregular EV sales and shares in several countries for Q1 of 2023. For the full year of 2023, we expect sales of 14,3 million EVs, a growth of 36 % over 2022, with BEVs reaching 11 million units and PHEVs 3,3 million units. By the end of 2023 we expect 40 million EVs in operation, counting light vehicles, 73 % are BEVs and 27 % PHEVs.
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EVs Resilient to Market Declines

Most mature auto markets experienced double-dips in sales during the 2020 through 2022 period. Following the Covid crunch of 2020 and a +5 % recovery in 2021, 2022 sales dipped again, by 0,5 % vs 2021, with mature economies losing 5-10 % of auto sales. Meanwhile, most developing economies, notably India and the ASEAN countries continuing a their strong recovery.

EV sales were resilient to weak auto markets: They over-performed by 21 % in Europe, by 87 % in China, by 55 % in Northern America and by 78 % in the Non-Triad markets. While global light vehicle sales lost -0,5 % y/y, BEVs and PHEVs increased by +55 %. The relative weakness in Europe's EV growth relates to the EV boom in 2020 / 2021 and the repercussion from the war in Ukraine.

China is, by far the largest EV market, with 59 % of global EV sales in 2022. Their role as the largest EV production base is even stronger, with 6,7 million units, 64 % of global volume, made in China. Nearly 580 000 EVs were exported from China, most of them (407k) by Western brands. The largest exporters were Tesla, SAIC, Dacia, Polestar, Volvo, Lynk & Co, BMW and BYD. All others exported below 10 000 units each.

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OEM Ranking for BEV & PHEV Deliveries

Robust increases of EV sales enabled nearly all OEMs to grow their sales in 2022. Global EV deliveries increased by +55 % y/y in total; OEMs with higher growth have increased their share in the EV sector.

BYD sold over 3 times as many BEVs+PHEVs compared to 2021, by boosting sales of existing models, successfully introducing new models and by entirely focusing production and sales on BEVs and PHEVs. Non-chargeable variants were phased out, ending in April 2022. BYD is now the largest maker of PHEVs and moved from rank #3 in 2021 to #1 for BEVs & PHEVs combined.

Tesla leads global sales of BEVs by a large margin, with a share of 17 % in all BEVs sold worldwide. Year-on-year growth was +40 %, less than for the sector, but from a high base.

The VW Group increased EV sales by just +10 %, staying flat in Europe compared to last year; BEVs gained, while PHEVs lost. Growth in China was +44 % y/y and +18 % in North America. The most popular EVs from the group were the VW ID.4, the ID.3, the Skoda Enyaq and the Audi Q4 e-tron, all of them BEVs and all MEB based.

The Wuling Mini EV has reached it's sales peak; GM gained only +13 % for that reason. Excluding the Mini EVs, GM's combined growth for EVs was +68 %.

Stellantis gained EV sector share in Europe and USA but with a small presence in China, Stellantis could not participate in the high growth there. The +34 % volume gain is still better than for many other western OEM.


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