Automotive innovation spans efficiency, electrification, battery economics, affordability and automated driving. The statistics below separate production, sales, vehicle stock, trade, model availability and installed battery demand, while identifying observed results, estimates and forecasts.
Key Automotive Innovation Statistics
The most broadly useful measures are:
- 27.2 mpg was the average real-world fuel economy of U.S. new light-duty vehicles in MY2024, an increase of 0.1 mpg from MY2023.
- U.S. new-vehicle fuel economy improved in 16 of the 20 model years from MY2005 through MY2024.
- MY2024 U.S. new-vehicle fuel economy was 41% higher than in MY2004.
- MY2023 U.S. new-vehicle real-world CO2 emissions averaged 319 g/mi, the lowest value in the EPA series.
- Trucks represented 66% of U.S. new-vehicle production in MY2024, compared with 34% for cars under NHTSA definitions.
- Truck SUVs represented half of all U.S. new-vehicle production in MY2024.
- BEVs accounted for 30% of U.S. car-SUV production in MY2024, with PHEVs accounting for another 3%.
- Global electric-car sales exceeded 17 million in 2024, passing a 20% share of worldwide car sales.
- China sold more than 11 million electric cars in 2024, close to half of its car sales.
- China produced more than 70% of the world’s electric cars in 2024.
- Global electric-car trade increased 20% in 2024, with imports approaching one-fifth of global electric-car sales.
- Lithium-ion battery-pack prices fell 20% globally in 2024, the largest annual decline since 2017.
- EV battery demand was about 1 TWh worldwide in 2024 and is forecast to exceed 3 TWh in 2030 under the IEA STEPS scenario.
- About 40% of available Chinese electric models cost less than USD 25,000 in 2024, compared with 45% of ICE models.
- A U.S. DOT evaluation estimated a 16% crash reduction for effective forward-collision alert, using an analytic sample of 35,401 vehicles.
- NHTSA’s initial ADS data release recorded 130 reported crashes, including 108 involving another vehicle.
Contents
- Fuel economy and emissions
- Vehicle technology and SUV trends
- Electric vehicle sales, production and trade
- Battery demand, prices and chemistry economics
- EV affordability and market access
- Driver assistance and automated-vehicle safety
Fuel Economy and Emissions in Automotive Innovation Statistics
EPA real-world estimates show gradual efficiency gains even as the U.S. new-vehicle mix changes. In MY2024, average fuel economy reached 27.2 mpg, up 0.1 mpg from 2023, and improved in 16 of the 20 model years from MY2005 through MY2024.
The longer comparison is also substantial: MY2024 fuel economy was 41% higher than MY2004. EPA’s MY2023 series recorded 319 g/mi of real-world CO2, while the 2004–2023 comparison showed a 31% decline, equivalent to 142 g/mi.
| Measure | Period | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Average fuel economy | MY2024 | 27.2 mpg; +0.1 mpg year over year |
| Fuel-economy improvement | MY2005–MY2024 | 16 of 20 model years |
| Fuel economy versus baseline | MY2004–MY2024 | +41% |
| Average CO2 emissions | MY2023 | 319 g/mi |
| CO2 change | MY2004–MY2023 | -31%, or 142 g/mi |
Sources: EPA Highlights of the Automotive Trends Report and EPA Report Shows US Fuel Economy Hits Record High and CO2 Emissions Reach a Record Low.
These are estimates from laboratory testing designed to represent a wider range of driving conditions, and both technology changes and vehicle-mix changes affect the trends. Passenger cars and light trucks represented nearly 17% of total U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions in 2022, providing the emissions context without making that figure an innovation measure.
Vehicle Technology and SUV Trends in Automotive Innovation Data
The U.S. production mix is central to interpreting innovation results. Under NHTSA regulatory definitions, cars were 34% and trucks 66% of MY2024 new-vehicle production, while truck SUVs alone accounted for half of production.
Truck-SUV fuel economy rose 1.0 mpg to 25.7 mpg in MY2024. Across vehicle types, every category except pickups more than doubled its 1975 fuel economy by MY2024.
Electrification was uneven across categories in MY2024:
- Car-SUV production included 30% BEVs and 3% PHEVs; BEVs contributed 9.0 mpg to the category’s average fuel economy.
- Sedan and wagon production included 7% BEVs and 1% PHEVs.
- Truck-SUV production included 4% BEVs and 4% PHEVs.
The EPA’s counterfactual comparison found that without BEVs and PHEVs, the MY2024 average new vehicle would have had 1.7 mpg lower fuel economy, 13 hp less power, 72 lb less weight and 0.1 square feet less footprint. This is a counterfactual comparison, not a causal estimate of individual technology effects.
Among 14 large U.S. manufacturers, 13 increased estimated real-world fuel economy from MY2019 to MY2024. Toyota recorded the largest five-year gain at 3.3 mpg, followed by BMW at 2.8 mpg and Mercedes at 2.4 mpg.
Source: EPA Highlights of the Automotive Trends Report.
Electric Vehicle Sales, Production and Trade Statistics
Global electric-car sales exceeded 17 million in 2024 and passed a 20% share of worldwide car sales. China sold more than 11 million, with electric cars near half of Chinese car sales, and one in ten cars on Chinese roads was electric by the end of the year.
| Market or flow | 2024 statistic | Population or definition |
|---|---|---|
| Worldwide sales | More than 17 million | Electric cars; over 20% of car sales |
| China sales | More than 11 million | Near half of Chinese car sales |
| Europe sales share | Around 20% | Sales share while sales stagnated |
| China production | More than 70% | Share of global electric-car production |
| Global trade | +20% | Trade growth; imports nearly one-fifth of sales |
China accounted for 40% of global electric-car exports, nearly 1.25 million vehicles. The European Union produced 2.4 million electric cars, exported more than 800,000 and imported fewer than 700,000, with 60% of those imports coming from China. U.S. electric-car imports rose nearly 40%, while exports fell nearly 15%.
Source: IEA Global EV Outlook 2025: Executive summary.
Company results show how electrification appears inside a manufacturer’s broader sales population. Hyundai Motor reported 4,141,959 worldwide vehicle sales in 2024, down 1.8% year over year, including 757,191 electrified models, up 8.9%; the company listed 218,500 EVs and 496,780 hybrids.
In Q4 2024, Hyundai reported 209,641 electrified-vehicle sales, up 21%, including 53,035 EVs and 145,732 hybrids. Hyundai’s target for 2025 was total vehicle sales above 4.17 million, which is company guidance rather than an achieved result.
Source: Hyundai Motor Announces 2024 Annual and Q4 Business Results.
Battery Demand, Prices and Chemistry Economics
IEA battery demand measures batteries installed in vehicles sold in each region: volume-weighted average battery size multiplied by vehicle sales. It excludes stockpiling and is not manufacturing capacity.
Demand grew more than 30% in China and 20% in the United States in 2024. U.S. demand nearly matched EU demand, although the average U.S. battery was about 25% larger per EV, while emerging and developing economies outside China reached nearly 5% of global demand.
The IEA STEPS scenario projects worldwide EV battery demand from about 1 TWh in 2024 to more than 3 TWh in 2030. Electric trucks are projected to rise from nearly 3% to more than 8% of EV battery demand, while the non-China EMDE share rises from nearly 5% to 10% and China’s share declines from 60% to just under 50%.
Battery economics changed sharply in 2024:
- Lithium-ion battery-pack prices fell 20%, the largest annual drop since 2017, based on IEA analysis of BloombergNEF survey data.
- Lithium prices fell nearly 20% to levels similar to the end of 2015, even though lithium demand was about six times 2015 demand.
- PHEV pack prices per kWh were more than three times BEV pack prices per kWh.
- The average 20-kWh PHEV pack cost about the same as the average 65-kWh BEV pack.
The last comparison concerns pack price, not capacity or total vehicle price. Source: IEA Global EV Outlook 2025: Electric vehicle batteries.
EV Affordability and Consumer Market Access Statistics
Price access differs by market and by whether the measure covers available models or vehicles actually purchased. In China during 2024, about 40% of available electric models were priced below USD 25,000, versus 45% of ICE models, and more than half of available Chinese electric models were below USD 30,000.
The median price paid for a battery-electric car in the China market comparison was about USD 24,000, around USD 700 below the median ICE-car price. These are sales-weighted medians, while model-availability shares describe listed choices rather than transaction volume.
| Affordability measure | Period | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Chinese electric models below USD 25,000 | 2024 | About 40% |
| Chinese ICE models below USD 25,000 | 2024 | 45% |
| Chinese electric models below USD 30,000 | 2024 | More than half |
| Median BEV price paid | 2024 | About USD 24,000 |
| Announced EVs below USD 30,000 | Short-term outlook | 60% of announced models with known prices |
Medium PHEV prices in China fell 15% from 2023 to 2024, and SUV-type PHEV prices fell 7%. In Germany, medium and SUV-type PHEV average purchase prices grew more than 5% year over year in 2024, while larger average batteries raised German PHEV battery-pack prices by about 15%.
The 60% figure for announced EVs is an expectation from the 2025 report, not a completed launch result. Source: IEA Global EV Outlook 2025: Trends in electric car affordability.
Driver-Assistance and Automated-Vehicle Safety Outcomes
NHTSA’s initial Standing General Order data release recorded 130 reported crashes involving ADS-equipped vehicles in the United States. Of these, 108 involved another vehicle and 11 involved a vulnerable road user such as a pedestrian or cyclist; one resulted in serious injuries and 108 resulted in no injuries.
For SAE Level 2 ADAS, serious injury or fatality occurred in 11 of 98 crashes with reported injury information. At least 116 reported Level 2 collisions involved another vehicle and at least four involved a vulnerable road user.
These are reported-crash counts, not crash rates: NHTSA’s data are not normalized by deployed vehicles or vehicle miles traveled and cannot rank manufacturers or systems. Source: NHTSA Initial Data Release, Advanced Vehicle Technologies.
A separate U.S. DOT evaluation estimated a 16% reduction in crashes associated with effective forward-collision alert. The analytic sample contained 35,401 model-year 2013–2015 vehicles drawn from a larger 1.2-million-vehicle population with and without automated-driving-assistance features, and the result was an observational field estimate rather than a randomized trial.
Source: U.S. DOT ITS Evaluation: 16 Percent Reduction in Crashes Due to Effective Forward Collision Alert.