Share of fuel types of new passenger cars in Europe by country 2023

Between January and December 2023, Norway had the highest share of battery-electric cars in Europe, with nearly 82.4 percent. The country with the largest proportion of diesel-propelled vehicles was Czechia, with over 22.6 percent of sales in the country that year being diesel vehicles.

The Push for Electrification 

Over the years, the push for green and sustainable solutions for our various technological needs has been growing. As of 2023, battery-electric vehicles have comprised 15.7 percent of the share of vehicle sales in Europe. A further 26.4 percent for hybrid electric vehicles still shows more motivation for moving toward more electric alternatives to diesel and petrol- powered vehicles. The fact that the transportation sector is responsible for a significant portion of the carbon dioxide emissions worldwide (20.7 percent in 2022), has motivated companies and governments to push toward developing and selling more electric vehicles. The result has been increased electric vehicle sales throughout the last ten years, with sales going from about 550,000 units in 2015 up to 10.2 million in 2022. 

The EV Giants 

The competition among electric vehicle manufacturers in 2023 was at an all-time high. BYD was the company that sold the most plug-in electric vehicles in 2023, selling about 2.9 million vehicles, beating out the likes of Tesla and BMW, which respectively sold 1.8 million and 500,000. Despite BYD selling more than Tesla, Tesla’s Model Y still proved its demand in the EV market, selling 1.2 million units, more units than any other plug-in electric vehicle model. That said, BYD owned six out of the ten best-selling plug-in electric vehicle models.