Compared to 2016, sales volumes in these categories of the automotive market increased by 57%. The majority of sold vehicles were pure electric models — 66%, while plug-in hybrids accounted for 34%.
China has held the world leadership in electric vehicle sales for the second consecutive year, and over the past year the number of charging stations there has grown noticeably. The growth of the electric car market in this country reached 72% — more than 600 thousand cars were sold. Europe at the end of 2017 showed a result of 307 thousand sold electric vehicles, which is 38% more, and in the USA about 200 thousand such cars were sold — an increase of 27%.
The most dynamic growth of the electric vehicle market was recorded in Iceland (+248%), Japan (+149%), Portugal (+126%), Germany (+108%) and Slovenia (+16.6%). Sales of electric cars and plug-in hybrids especially intensified in December of last year: in one month, more than 170 thousand such cars were sold worldwide, and their market share reached 2% — this is 17% more than in November, which also turned out to be record-breaking. If current growth rates persist, analysts expect that in 2018 the sales volume of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids will reach approximately 1.9 million units.
