Global sales of electric vehicles rose by 28% in the first half of this year, compared to the same period in 2024, new data from Rho Motion has found.
According to the data, the number of EVs sold around the world in the first half of 2025 totalled 9.1 million, with the EV market growing by 24% in June alone, on a year-on-year basis.
China leads the way in terms of EV sales growth, with 5.5 million electric vehicles sold, a 32% increase on the previous year, the data showed.
In Europe, some 2.0 million units were sold, a 26% increase, while sales in North America rose by just 3%, to 0.9 million. In the Rest of the World, meanwhile, sales were up 40%, to 0.7 million.
‘Steaming ahead’
“Today’s EV sales figures for the first half of 2025 show that China and Europe are steaming ahead in terms of the electric transition,” commented Charles Lester, data manager at Rho Motion. “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.
Tax credits
In the US, the forthcoming removal of federal EV tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act, is likely to significantly impact the market – more than half of the EVs sold in the US this year qualified for these credits, according to Rho Motion.
“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,” Lester added. Read more here.
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