The number of electric vehicles sold globally in the first half 2025 is 9.1 million, according the data revealed by the leading EV research house Rho Motion.
The EV market grew by 24% year-on-year in June 2025 compared to June 2024 and increased by 7% compared to May 2025.
Rho Motion Data Manager, Charles Lester, commented: “Today’s EV sales figures of the first half of 2025 show that China and Europe are steaming ahead in terms of the electric transition. Over one in two electric vehicles sold in the world are being bought in China and around half of purchased new cars in the country are electric. Despite some nervousness over subsidies, we expect this strong EV sales trend to continue over the course of the year. European growth, while strong, hasn’t been uniform across the region. The UK and Germany are leading the way, leaving France in their dust as price-sensitive drivers continue to be at the mercy of subsidies. North America, and in particular Canada, is experiencing a slowdown of EV sales in 2025. With Trump’s latest cuts in his ‘Big Beautiful Bill,’ the USA could struggle to see any growth in the EV market overall in 2025.”
Snapshot electric vehicle sales in H1 2025 vs H1 2024, Year-to-Date (YTD)%:
– Global: 9.1 million, +28%
– China: 5.5 million, +32%
– Europe: 2.0 million, +26%
– North America: 0.9 million, +3%
– Rest of World: 0.7 million, +40%
Europe
The European EV market has grown by 26% in the first half of the year, reaching 2.0 million units sold. Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) sales have grown by 26% YTD, bolstered by the rise in small-segment vehicles available to the European market, such as the Renault 4 and Renault 5, and automakers push to meet, now relaxed, tailpipe emissions targets. Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) sales have grown by 27% with many Chinese manufacturers seeing this as a way around the European tariffs on BEVs.
The Spanish market continues to excel, with 85% growth ytd. The Spanish market still has a strong incentive scheme that has helped propel EV sales in 2025, and it also extended the MOVES III scheme in April 2025 until the end of the year, resulting in strong EV sales in May and June. Major auto markets, such as Germany and the UK, are up 40% and 32% ytd, respectively. Meanwhile, France remains down at -13% following their subsidy cuts.
North America
Growth in the North American EV market (US, Canada, and Mexico) continues to slow down, with 3% growth now ytd. The Canadian market remains down at -23%, the Mexican market is up at 20%, and the US market has grown by 6%.
Following President Trump signing the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ into law on 4 July 2025, all IRA consumer tax credits for new, used, and commercial EVs are withdrawn and will be terminated on 30th September 2025. Just over half of EVs sold in the US this year have been eligible for the tax credit.
Rho Motion expecta a rise in EV sales before the elimination of the tax credit at the end of Q3, and then a sharp decline in demand in the final quarter of the year.
China
The Chinese market has increased by 32% ytd in the opening six months of the year, and has grown by 28% y-o-y despite the negative sentiment that has crept into the Chinese market. There have been reports that some cities’ subsidies have run out for the first half of the year, prompting expectations of a slowdown in the Chinese market.
However, Rho Motion is anticipating more funding to become available in the second half of the year, allowing EV sales to continue to grow in the country. Rho Motion still expects the Chinese market to have strong growth in the final months of 2025.
