7.3 Full battery electric vehicles (BEVs)

Full battery electric cars require a larger battery storage capacity than hybrids or PHEVs.

In the 1990s, they were only available in small numbers as variants of ICE cars. (For example, the Peugeot 106 electric car, using nickel-cadmium batteries, was manufactured from 1995 to 2003). The Indian REVA G-Wiz micro car, using lead-acid batteries, was launched in 2001 and secured a small niche market becoming the world’s best selling electric vehicle in 2006.

The real change has taken place more recently. In the nine years between 2012 and 2021 global sales, PHEV and BEV vehicles increased by a factor of 50, with BEVs making up about 70% of the market.

A number of high-performance BEVs have been launched commercially, including the Nissan Leaf. This was initially produced with an 80 kW (107 hp) electric motor and a 24 kWh lithium ion battery, giving a range of 175 km. The battery size was increased in later models to 30 kWh.

As shown in Figure 12, the battery is fitted at the bottom of the car under the seats. The electric motor, control and charging electronics are all at the front of the car in the ‘engine bay’.

Figure 12: A cutaway of a Nissan Leaf BEV at a 2014 international trade fair

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This is a photograph of a Nissan Leaf battery electric car which has been cut away lengthwise to show the interior components. The front of the car is shown pointing to the right. The engine bay in front of the driver’s seat contains the electric motor driving the front wheels and a lot of control equipment. The storage battery is shown in orange positioned in the floor under the seats.

Figure 12: A cutaway of a Nissan Leaf BEV at a 2014 international trade fair

The US company Tesla has developed the high end of the BEV market. Their battery electric roadster, introduced in 2008, was fitted with a 56 kWh lithium ion battery. It had a top speed of 200 kph and an advertised range of nearly 400 kilometres.

Since then, Tesla has produced a range of different BEVs. In June 2021, their Model 3 saloon became the first electric car to sell more than 1 million cars worldwide. Tesla has managed to make the electric car an aspirational item of social status. The first electric Rolls Royce production model, the Spectre, was launched in late 2023.

Electric car sales in the UK have also been increasing rapidly. In early 2025 there were 1.4 million BEVs and 780 000 PHEVs. However this only represents less than 7% of the total number of cars in the UK.