Writing Task 1 (Academic Test)

The chart illustrates the number of plug-in electric passenger vehicles that were bought by customers in the best selling markets around the world. Overall, it is evident that there was a huge increase in sales over this decade, particularly in Europe and China.

In 2011 electric passenger vehicle sales were almost non-existent. From 2011 to 2013 sales picked up and by this time, manufacturers were selling around 150,000 such vehicles per year. At this time sales were equally divided between Europe, China and the United States.  From 2014 until 2017 there was a gradual increase in sales, although it is notable that a large percentage of these sales occurred in China.

In 2018 sales of plug-in electric vehicles took off, and this year saw an almost 100% increase in cars sold. 2019 was almost identical to 2018 at approximately 2 million units sold, and then in 2020 there was another large jump in sales, with the European market becoming the largest market and total sales reaching almost 3 million. 2021 was an extraordinary year for electric passenger vehicle sales, as sales rocketed to over 6 million units bought, largely due to a huge jump in sales in China.