As of the start of 2018, there were more than 3.2 million electric cars on the world’s roads.

That’s according to new research from the Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW), which shows 2017 saw a record-breaking 1.2 million new registrations.

Last year saw around 55% growth – ZSW says if the rate of adoption continues at this pace, the number of electric vehicles (EVs) registered each year will be more than 25 million by 2025.

Roughly 1.2 million EVs are already on China’s roads, followed by 750,000 in the US.

In 2017, China registered around 579,000 electric cars, compared to 195,140 in the US in second place and Norway in third place with a total of 62,320.

The UK had the fourth most EV registrations of the year with 47,260.

Professor Werner Tillmetz, Head of ZSW’s Electrochemical Energy Technologies division, said: “Growth rates like these also require enormous expansions in cell production.

“That is tantamount to 20 new gigabyte battery factories and more than €100 billion (£88.3bn) in investments—all within just a few years.”