Superfact 107: Electric vehicles are rapidly replacing the internal combustion engine (ICE cars) and are becoming commonplace around the world. It is analogous to how cars once replaced the horse and buggy.
In Norway close to 100% of all new cars sold in 2025 were electric vehicles. Around the world a substantial percentage of new cars sold in 2025 were electric vehicles. This phenomenon is not as visible here in the US, where I live, but if you travel, you’ll notice.
The graphs below show that the share of new cars that were sold in 2025 that were EVs was substantial, but more importantly there is a sharp upward slope of the curve(s). The share of new cars sold in 2025 that were electric was in respective region or country: Norway 97%, Denmark 71%, China 53%, European Union 27%, World 25%, the United States 10%. The graphs are taken from this page on the Our World in Data web page. I encourage you to play around with the interactive graphs. You can read more about new cars sales in Norway here.
It should be noted that electric cars include fully battery-electric and plug-in hybrids. With battery-electric cars is meant cars or other vehicles that are powered entirely by an electric motor and battery, instead of an internal combustion engine. With plug-in hybrid is meant cars or other vehicles that have a rechargeable battery and electric motor, and an internal combustion engine. The battery in plug-in hybrids is smaller and has a shorter range than battery-electric cars, so over longer distances, the car starts running on gasoline once the battery has run out.
This is a fact that is important, and that likely comes as a surprise to people living in countries that are lagging in this transition, such as the United States. Therefore, I consider it a super fact.
The Share of EVs
The sharp increase in the sale of electric cars is a recent phenomenon and therefore there are still a lot of ICE cars on the roads. Therefore, there is a significant difference between the share of electric vehicles on the road and the share of new cars sales being EVs. The share of electric cars on the roads in 2024 was in the United States 2.7%, in the world 4.5%, in China 11%, in Sweden 13% and in Norway 32%. See the graph below.
The graph below illustrates the sales of fully battery-electric cars versus plug-in hybrids.
The bar graph below is an alternative illustration showing the share of new cars sold that are electric in 2024 for the world and 8 countries.
This article states that there are now more new electric cars sold in the EU than ICEs. However, it should be noted that they include hybrids (non-plug-in) in this number.
Are EVs cleaner than ICE cars ?
Yes, they are. EV Cars emit less pollution than Internal Combustion Engine Cars, even considering manufacturing, disposal and EV Cars being charged by dirty grids. Basically, this is because burning oil to move a vehicle creates significantly more heat than motion. I created another super fact post that explains the details called: super fact (29) EV Cars Indeed Emit Less Carbon Pollution. You can read more here.
There are concerns about the mining of minerals for EV cars, such as cobalt and lithium, which has an environmental impact. However, this environmental impact should be compared to the environmental impact caused by the drilling and transport of oil (and the burning of gas/oil). In general, the environmental impact of EVs is considered much less. In addition, EV batteries last a long time, and 95% to 98% of the valuable materials in EV batteries (lithium, cobalt, nickel, and copper.) can be recycled/recovered. You can read about other EV myths here. However, this is probably a topic for a future super-fact.
To see the other Super Facts click here
Super Facts 
Good to see these figures. Guess we know when the US will start to catch up 😏
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Thank you Animalcouriers, and I think you are right.
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An important nuance on this is the degree of “greenness” or otherwise of the grid from which the electricity for electric cars comes from. For an effective 100%green grid such as Norway electric cars are fantastically green. Sadly if the grid is largely hydrocarbon electricity then not so much: one is merely moving the CO2 generation from one place to another. So electric cars are an important part of the solution but only if the electricity they use is green as well. I’m not arguing against EVs but rather highlighting the broader picture.
See https://craigavad.org/2026/04/25/the-true-carbon-cost-of-electric-cars/
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I live on the island of Ireland. The grid is hybrid. Some renewables, some gas powered. Moreover the charging infrastructure is poor. While much of my driving is local, some is long distance. I don’t think I’ll move to an EV until (1) the charging infrastructure improves, (2) the EV range is consistently 600 miles plus per charge, and (3) charge times fall. All of this will happen…. Until then my super efficient Mercedes diesel power train (60mpg +, UK gallon) will stay in my garage. 🤷♂️
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Craigavad I think that sounds quite reasonable. I’ll do the same.
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Thank you Craigavad. I should say for an EV not to cause less emissions than an ICE car the grid has to be very dirty. In the US there are only a few states for which an EV is dirtier than a decent hybrid. I am referring to this map. For an average EV the emission corresponding to an ICE car with a specific mpg is: mpg 119 for California, 91 mpg is the average for the US, 76 mpg for Texas, and 37 mpg for Hawaii. So for Hawaii an EV is dirtier than a regular hybrid but still not dirtier than regular ICE. It is late and I am going to bed, but I will read your post tomorrow.
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The battery tech continues to mature, offering better performance and lower risk (e.g., fire). I’m looking forward to maturation where the economics from mining to driving fulfill our hopes.
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Brazil has quite a few electric cars , the brands are Chinese. The are great. I have been in a few. Quiet, smooth, comfortable. Very nice car and several dealers around.
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What an interesting post, Thomas. My son was asking if we were planning on getting an electric car, but I said they were too expensive right now and we’d need to wait until we could buy one second-hand. Thanks for explaining the plug-in hybrids, as I wasn’t sure how these cars really worked!
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