A plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) is any motor vehicle that can be recharged from an external source of electricity, such as wall sockets, and the electricity stored in the rechargeable battery packs drives or contributes to drive the wheels. PEV is a subset of electric vehicles that includes all-electric or battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs). In China, plug-in electric vehicles are called new energy vehicles (NEVs). Sales of the first mass-production plug-in cars by major carmakers began in late December 2010, with the introduction of the all-electric Nissan Leaf and the plug-in hybrid Chevrolet Volt.
Plug-in cars have several benefits compared to conventional internal combustion engine vehicles. They have lower operating and maintenance costs, and produce little or no local air pollution. They reduce dependence on petroleum and may severally reduce greenhouse gas emissions, depending on the electricity source, as motors are typically much more efficient than their engine equivalents. Plug-in hybrids capture most of these benefits when they are operating in all-electric mode.
Cumulative global sales of highway legal plug-in electric passenger cars and light utility vehicles achieved the 1 million unit mark in September 2015, 2 million in December 2016, 3 million in November 2017, and the 5 million milestone in December 2018. Despite the rapid growth experienced, the plug-in electric car segment represented just about 1 out of every 250 vehicles on the world's roads by December 2018. As of December 2018, the Nissan Leaf is the world's top selling highway-capable all-electric car in history, with global sales since inception of over 380,000 units, followed by the Tesla Model S with 263,500 units.As of December 2018, China has the world's largest stock of highway legal light-duty plug-in electric vehicles with cumulative sales of 2.2 million plug-in electric passenger cars. More than 1 million light-duty plug-in electric passenger cars have been registered in Europe by June 2018, with sales led by Norway with over 296,000 units registered as of December 2018. Cumulative sales in the U.S. totaled over 1.1 million plug-in cars at the end of 2018. In October 2018, Norway became the first country where 1 in every 10 passenger cars registered is a plug-in electric vehicle.