Transport & space · 2023

EV tops global car sales

The Tesla Model Y becomes the world's best-selling car of any type.

In 2023 the Model Y sold about 1.2 million units, the first time an electric car led global sales. Electric cars reached about 18 percent of new car sales that year and over 20 percent in 2024, led by China. BYD overtook Tesla in battery-electric sales in 2025.

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What it built on 1

Tesla Model 3 2017

Related measurements

The dashed line marks when it first worked.

Electric share of new car sales Latest: Battery electric: 16.5 % of new cars (2025) Source: Our World in Data

Lithium-ion battery cell price Latest: 78 $/kWh (2024 USD) (2024) Source: Our World in Data

Cost of memory and storage Latest: Memory: 1.09k $/TB (2023) Source: Our World in Data