Plug-in electric vehicle

All-electric vehicles have lower operating and maintenance costs, and produce little or no air pollution when under all-electric mode, thus (depending on the electricity source) reducing societal dependence on fossil fuels and significantly decreasing greenhouse gas emissions, but recharging takes longer time than refueling and is heavily reliant on sufficient charging infrastructures to remain operationally practical.

[12][13] The BYD Song DM SUV series is the world's all-time best selling plug-in hybrid, with global sales over 1,050,000 units through December 2023.

These include improved air quality, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, noise reduction, and national security benefits.

According to the Center for American Progress, PEVs are an important part of the group of technologies that will help the U.S. meet its goal under the Paris Agreement, which is a 26–28 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2025.

[45]" Electric cars, as well as plug-in hybrids operating in all-electric mode, emit no harmful tailpipe pollutants from the onboard source of power, such as particulates (soot), volatile organic compounds, hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, ozone, lead, and various oxides of nitrogen.

[46] Depending on the source of the electricity used to recharge the batteries, air pollutant emissions are shifted to the location of the generation plants where they can be more easily captured from flue gases.

From the perspective of a full life cycle analysis, the electricity used to recharge the batteries must be generated from renewable or clean sources such as wind, solar, hydroelectric, or nuclear power for PEVs to have almost none or zero well-to-wheel emissions.

The United Kingdom also has a significant potential to benefit from PEVs as low carbon sources such as wind turbines dominate the generation mix.

[60] Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) concludes that battery costs are on a trajectory to make electric vehicles without government subsidies as affordable as internal combustion engine cars in most countries by 2022.

[62][63] Electrical outlets or charging stations near their places of residence, in commercial or public parking lots, streets and workplaces are required for these potential users to gain the full advantage of PHEVs, and in the case of EVs, to avoid the fear of the batteries running out energy before reaching their destination, commonly called range anxiety.

[64] A different approach to resolve the problems of range anxiety and lack of recharging infrastructure for electric vehicles was developed by Better Place but was not successful in the United States in the 2010s.

[66] The existing low-voltage network, and local transformers in particular, may not have enough capacity to handle the additional power load that might be required in certain areas with high plug-in electric car concentrations.

To avoid such problems, utility executives recommend owners to charge their vehicles overnight when the grid load is lower or to use smarter electric meters that help control demand.

However, blind people or the visually impaired consider the noise of combustion engines a helpful aid while crossing streets, hence plug-in electric cars and conventional hybrids could pose an unexpected hazard when operating at low speeds.

[71][72] Several tests conducted in the U.S. have shown that this is a valid concern, as vehicles operating in electric mode can be particularly hard to hear below 20 mph (30 km/h) for all types of road users and not only the visually impaired.

[73][74][75] At higher speeds the sound created by tire friction and the air displaced by the vehicle start to make sufficient audible noise.

[72] Therefore, in the 2010s laws were passed in many countries mandating warning sounds at low speeds.Lithium-ion batteries may suffer thermal runaway and cell rupture if overheated or overcharged, and in extreme cases this can lead to combustion.

General Motors, Tesla, and Nissan have published a guide for firefighters and first responders to properly handle a crashed plug-in electric-drive vehicle and safely disable its battery and other high voltage systems.

[82] Several national, provincial, and local governments around the world have introduced policies to support the mass market adoption of plug-in electric vehicles.

A variety of policies have been established to provide direct financial support to consumers and manufacturers; non-monetary incentives; subsidies for the deployment of charging infrastructure; procurement of electric vehicle for government fleets; and long term regulations with specific targets.

[90][94][95][96] Some government have also established long term regulatory signals with specific target timeframes such as ZEV mandates, national or regional CO2 emissions regulations, stringent fuel economy standards, and the phase out of internal combustion engine vehicle sales.

[99][100] As of June 2020[update], Oxford is slated to be the first city to implement a ZEZ scheme, beginning with a small area scheduled to go into effect by mid 2021.

[101][102] As of May 2020[update], other cities planning to gradually introduce ZEZ, or partial or total ban fossil fuel powered vehicles include, among others, Amsterdam (2030),[103] Athens (2025),[104] Barcelona (2030),[104] Brussels (2030/2035),[99] Copenhagen (2030),[104] London (2020/2025),[99] Los Angeles (2030),[104] Madrid (2025),[105] Mexico City (2025),[105] Milan (2030),[104] Oslo (2024/2030),[99] Paris (2024/2030),[99] Quito (2030),[104] Rio de Janeiro (2030),[104] Rome (2024/2030),[99][106] Seattle (2030),[104] and Vancouver (2030).

[109] As of December 2019[update], according to the International Energy Agency, there were about 250 models of highway-capable plug-in electric passenger cars available for sale in the world, up from 70 in 2014.

[19] Since 2016, China has the world's largest fleet of light-duty plug-in electric vehicles, after having overtaken during 2016 both the U.S. and Europe in terms of cumulative sales.

[171][172][173] The largest country markets in the European region in terms of EV stock and annual sales are Germany, Norway, France, the UK, the Netherlands, and Sweden.

[182] As of December 2019[update], France ranked as the country with the world's second largest stock of light-duty electric commercial vehicles after China, with 49,340 utility vans in use.

[242] Europe's all-time top selling all-electric light utility vehicle is the Renault Kangoo Z.E., with global sales of over 57,500 units through November 2020.

[262][264] Combined global sales of the Chevrolet Volt and its rebadged models totaled about 186,000 units by the end of 2018,[263][265][266][267][268] including about 10,000 Opel/Vauxhall Amperas sold in Europe through June 2016.

[266][267] Until the end of 2018, the Chevrolet Volt family listed as the world's top selling plug-in hybrid, when it was surpassed by the Mitsubishi Outlander P-HEV.

The operating cost of the Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid in the U.S. is estimated at US$0.03 per mile while operating in all-electric mode . [ 49 ] [ 50 ]
Evolution of oil prices since 1987 (average Brent spot prices – adjusted for U.S. inflation)
Tesla Model S electric car (left) and Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid (right) at the parking spots reserved for green cars at San Francisco International Airport
Better Place 's battery switching station in Israel
The 2011 Nissan Leaf had a switch to manually turn off its electric warning sound system.
Frontal crash test of a Volvo C30 DRIVe Electric to assess the safety of the battery pack
Car dealerships can play a role in the sales of plug-in electric vehicles. Shown a dealership exhibiting first generation Chevrolet Volts .
All-electric car on a bus lane in Oslo
Sign for London's Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ). A fee is charged to the most polluting vehicles entering Central London .
The General Motors EV1 was the first mass-produced and purpose-designed all-electric car of the modern era from a major automaker.
The Tesla Model 3 was the world's top selling plug-in car in 2018. [ 110 ]
The BYD Qin is the Chinese company's all-time top selling model.
Detroit Electric car charging in 1919. During the Golden Age of the electric car at the beginning of the 20th century, the EV stock peaked at about 30,000 vehicles. [ 129 ]
Annual sales of plug-in passenger cars in the world's top markets between 2011 and 2023 [ 19 ] [ 132 ] [ 134 ] [ 135 ] [ 136 ] [ 137 ] [ 138 ] [ 139 ] [ 140 ]
Evolution of the ratio between global sales of BEVs and PHEVs between 2011 and 2023 [ 110 ] [ 148 ] [ 149 ] [ 150 ] [ 151 ] [ 152 ]
Evolution of annual registrations of plug-in electric passenger cars in Europe, 2011–2021
Annual registration of plug-in electric cars in Germany by type of powertrain between 2010 and 2021
The Renault Zoe is the country's all-time best selling plug-in electric car with over 100,000 units delivered since inception through June 2020. [ 181 ]
Registration of plug-in electric cars in the UK between 2011 and 2021
Historical evolution of the Norwegian plug-in electric car segment market share of new car sales and monthly records, 2011–2024 (Source: OFV)
The Volkswagen ID.3 was the best selling plug-in car in the Netherlands in 2020. [ 215 ]
Comparison of plug-in car market shares in California vs the American market (2011–2023)
As of April 2018 , the Nissan Leaf was listed as the all-time top selling plug-in car in Japan, with 100,000 units delivered. [ 225 ]
The Mitsubishi Outlander P-HEV is the world's all-time best selling plug-in hybrid, with about 300,000 units sold globally through January 2022. [ 257 ]