Battery electric vehicle

A battery electric vehicle (BEV), pure electric vehicle, only-electric vehicle, fully electric vehicle or all-electric vehicle is a type of electric vehicle (EV) that uses electrical energy exclusively from an on-board battery pack to power one or more electric traction motors, on which the vehicle solely relies for propulsion.

This definition excludes hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs; including mild, full and plug-in hybrids), which use internal combustion engines (ICEs) in adjunct to electric motors for propulsion; and fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) and range-extended electric vehicles (REEVs), which consume fuel through a fuel cell or an ICE-driven generator to produce electricity needed for the electric motors. BEVs have no fuel tanks and replenish their energy storage by plugging into a charging station, electrical grid or getting a new battery at a battery swap station, and use motor controllers to modulate the output engine power and torque, thus eliminating the need for clutches, transmissions and sophisticated engine cooling as seen in conventional ICE vehicles. BEVs include – but are not limited to^[1][2] – all battery-driven electric cars, buses, trucks, forklifts, motorcycles and scooters, bicycles, skateboards, railcars, boat and personal watercraft, although in common usage the term usually refers specifically to passenger cars.

In 2016, there were 210 million electric bikes worldwide used daily.^[3] Cumulative global sales of highway-capable light-duty pure electric car vehicles passed the one million unit milestone in September 2016.^[4] As of September 2024^[update], the world's top selling all-electric car in history is the Tesla Model Y, with an estimated 3.4 million sales, followed by the Tesla Model 3 with over 2.6 million sales, and the Wuling Hongguang Mini EV with 1.4 million sales as of December 2024^[update].^[5][6]