Data from research firm Rho Motion has revealed that global battery electric vehicle (BEVs) and hybrid sales increased by 25% in 2024. Four consecutive months of record EV sales brought total EV sales to more than 17 million units as Europe’s electric vehicle sector stabilized and China’s industry kept expanding.
Emission targets and incentives were especially effective at pushing electric vehicle sales in China, undoubtedly the largest electric vehicle market on the globe, and helped Britain surpass Germany as the largest BEV market in Europe in 2024. According to Rho Motion, battery electric vehicle sales grew by 25.6% year-on-year globally in December to reach 1.9 million units globally. Chinese BEV sales surged by 36.5% to 1.3 million units in December, Rho Motion data shows, bringing China’s total BEV sales for the year to 11 million vehicles.
In the West, American and Canadian electric vehicle sales rose by 8.8% to 0.19 million vehicles in December while European EV sales increased by 0.7% year-on-year to 0.31 million units in 2024. Global EV sales outside major markets grew 26.4% year-on-year. But despite the rise in global electric vehicle sales, 2024 was a rough year for automakers and the electric vehicle industry in general.
Many automakers were forced to go back to the drawing board and lower their EV ambitions after several months of waning demand and dwindling sales. Premium EV prices coupled with high interest rates and rising living costs meant electric cars weren’t a priority for most people. The American electric vehicle market was particularly affected as Western automakers still cannot produce electric cars cheaply and are almost entirely reliant on subsidies and incentives to sell their electric vehicles.
China, on the other hand, seems to have perfected making electric cars cheaply and began exporting to the EU market in mass before the European Commission stepped in to protect European carmakers. Even though Chinese electric vehicle exports are subject to significant tariffs in most of the West, Beijing’s EV industry largely came out on top last year.
2025 is set to be a major year for the global electric vehicle industry as China’s insane EV sales growth starts to slow down, new European emissions goals begin setting off, and uncertainty about the incoming Trump administration’s policy changes abound.
A note from Rho Motion said the loss of electric vehicle subsidies in Germany had a significant impact on the European market due to Berlin’s dominance in the European automotive industry. If President-elect Donald Trump goes through with his threat to eliminate the $7,500 federal tax incentive, the note said, the global EV sector could be similarly affected.
Startups like Nikola Corporation (NASDAQ: NKLA) must now navigate a highly-competitive auto landscape while factoring in the possibility that the tax incentive that helped many to buy EVs could be no more if Trump has his way.
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