Cars and Drivers

Global EV Sales Rise 62% in the First Half of 2022

Paul Ausick

Published: November 8, 2022 12:55 pm

Given supply constraints, slowing demand and interest rate hikes, it is almost miraculous that sales of electric vehicles (EVs) increased by 62% in the first half of this year. Global sales reached 4.3 million units.

Globally, light vehicle sales (cars, pickups, SUVs) fell 8.1%. According to the latest report from EV-Volumes, light vehicle sales in North America fell 17% year over year in the first six months of the year while European sales dropped 15.2%.

North American sales of EVs — battery electric (BEVs) or plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) — rose 49% in the first half of the year, while European EV sales rose by just 9%. Overall light vehicle sales fell nearly 2% in China, but EV sales rose a whopping 113% despite lockdowns and a national real estate crisis.

Global EV sales by Chinese automaker BYD rose by 320% year over year in the first half of 2022. The mix of BEVs and PHEVs was about equal. Tesla sales rose 46%, all BEVs. Volkswagen’s first-half sales were flat, while General Motors got a 15% boost. The following chart shows the year-over-year percentage change for global EV makers. Only Nio and Tata-Jaguar-Land Rover had fewer sales in the first half of the year.

Tesla had the two top sellers: Model Y sales rose from 138,000 in the first half of last year to 315,000 and Model 3 sales slipped from 244,000 a year ago to 219,000. BYD claimed five of the top 10 best sellers, and all five combined sold 393,000 units. BYD’s best seller was the Song Pro/Plus PHEV with sales of 131,000 units. Wuling HongGuang (GM’s China-based partner) had the third best-selling vehicle. Its tiny Mini EV sold 208,000 units, up from 181,000 a year ago.

EV-Volumes expects EVs to account for 13.4% of global new light vehicle sales this year. That is 10.6 million units, up from 6.76 million units (8.3% of global sales) in 2021.

By the end of this year, EV-Volumes expects the global fleet of BEVs and PHEVs to reach 26.9 million vehicles, 1.8% of an estimated 1.5 billion light vehicles in the global fleet.

EV-Volumes estimates that the global fleet of light vehicles will reach 2 billion in 2040. Of that number, 40% will be BEVs, but due to scrapping rates, more than 50% of the fleet will still be fuel burners.