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Despite headlines predicting their downfall, sales of Electric Vehicles (EV) continued to grow worldwide in 2025, breaking records in some regions and even outselling petrol-powered vehicles in others.
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According to the UK-based global research firm, Rho Motion, some 20.7 million EVs were sold last year, marking a 3.6-million-vehicle jump over 2024, representing an increase of about 20 per cent.
China was at the forefront, with a 17 per cent sales increase to 12.9 million EVs sold last year, well ahead of Europe’s tally of 4.3 million units, though the latter’s numbers were up by a staggering 33 per cent. More on why later on.
Even in ute loving Australia where the largely diesel-powered Ford Ranger tops the charts, EV sales edged up 1.1 per cent, ahead of the overall market average growth of 0.3 per cent, equating to some 103,000 new EVs on the road (out of a 1.24-million-unit total), for an 8.3 per cent market share.
This is up from 7.4 per cent in 2024, even without the same levels of government-funded EV incentives as offered elsewhere to stimulate demand, with the Tesla Model Y and BYD Sealion 7 SUVs leading the charge, so to speak, at 22,239 and 13,410 registrations respectively.
Furthermore, December was a bumper month for EVs, recording 10,384 sales across Australia, accounting for nearly 11 per cent of new-vehicle volume.
While not increasing at the same levels as Europe and China, Australia’s EV growth last year augers well for the future, according to the CEO of the Electric Vehicle Council, Julie Delvecchio.
“Battery electric vehicle sales passed 100,000 in a single year for the first time… that is a profound shift in a short period of time,” she said.
Meanwhile, in Europe, history was made last month, with EV sales actually outpacing petrol-powered vehicles for the first time since the 1910s (when electricity predominated).
According to a report this week from news agency, Reuters, the sales figures from market analysts ACEA show that EVs nosed ahead by 0.1 per cent, to 22.6 per cent during December.
Plus, total EU EV sales for 2025 jumped from almost 13.5 per cent to nearly 17.5 per cent, resulting in a volume leap from 1.99 million to nearly 2.58 million units.
Along with the usual drivers of growth, like government rebates, cheaper registration, discounted parking, more attractive leasing schemes, lower running costs and a smaller price gap compared to internal combustion engine equivalents, last year saw a dramatic increase in competition from China, led by BYD.
However, not to be outdone, legacy carmakers also fought back in a big way in 2025, with popular models like the European Car of the Year-winning Renault 5, Skoda Elroq, Kia EV3 and BMW iX1.
ACEA data shows that the biggest EU markets are Germany with 545,142 sales, followed by the UK at 473,348 sales, France at 326,922 and Norway (which has the world’s highest market share of EVs at 96 per cent) at 172,231 sales.
The only major region that saw EV sales declining in 2025 was the United States, where the discontinuation of tax benefits by the Trump administration led to a four per cent drop, to 1.8 million units. But this is expected to correct over the next year or so, as consumers and carmakers alike adjust to the lack of EV incentives accordingly.
Overall, though, EV sales continue to rise around the world, never having fallen since Nissan revived the mainstream electric car with the original Leaf in 2010.
With even more affordable models on the horizon, this year is expected to be no different.
