Battery electric vehicle (BEV)
A vehicle propelled solely by electric motors powered from an on-board rechargeable battery, with no internal combustion engine.
A battery electric vehicle stores all its energy in a traction battery, today almost always lithium-ion (NMC or LFP), and drives one or more electric motors through an inverter. It recharges from the grid via AC charging or DC fast charging, and recovers energy through regenerative braking.
Example: 75 kWh / 0.17 kWh/km ≈ 440 km
Tank-to-wheel efficiency: about 80–90% (vs 20–35% for ICE)
Typical passenger BEVs carry 40–100 kWh batteries and consume 14–22 kWh/100 km including charging losses. Their energy use per kilometre is roughly a quarter to a third of an equivalent petrol car: 17 kWh/100 km versus about 6.5 L/100 km of petrol, which contains roughly 58 kWh.
Global electric car sales (BEV plus PHEV) reached about 17 million in 2024, more than 20% of new car sales, with China accounting for nearly two-thirds (IEA Global EV Outlook 2025). Norway reached nearly 90% BEV share of new car sales in 2024. Lifecycle studies (ICCT 2021, IEA) find BEVs emit substantially less CO2 than combustion cars over their life in nearly all major markets, with the margin growing as grids decarbonise; see well-to-wheel emissions.
Related terms
All terms →- Plug-in hybrid (PHEV)
A vehicle combining an internal combustion engine with a battery and electric motor that can be charged from the grid, giving a limited all-electric range.
- EV efficiency (kWh/100 km)
The electrical energy an electric vehicle consumes per distance, usually in kWh/100 km or Wh/km (Europe) or miles/kWh and MPGe (US).
- DC fast charging
High-power EV charging in which an off-board charger delivers direct current straight to the battery, typically 50–400 kW and above.
- Lithium-ion battery
A rechargeable battery in which lithium ions shuttle between a graphite anode and a metal-oxide or phosphate cathode; the dominant chemistry for EVs and grid storage.
- Well-to-wheel emissions
Greenhouse gas emissions of a vehicle from producing and delivering its energy (well-to-tank) plus using it in the vehicle (tank-to-wheel), per unit distance.
- Vehicle-to-grid (V2G)
Bidirectional charging that lets a parked electric vehicle export battery energy to the grid, providing storage and grid services.