- The latest data from EV research firm, Rho Motion, shows that global EV sales saw a 50% year-on-year rise for February 2025, compared to February 2024.
- Globally, 1.2 million electric vehicles (constituting both BEVs and PHEVs) were sold last month – around 50% higher than the sales figures saw in February of the previous year.
- And it’s not just certain regions contributing to this rise, with all segmented areas seeing significant rises in EV sales.
EV sales continue to rise globally
Broken down by region, Europe also saw an impressive year-on-year rise in the EV market – with February sales up 20% on February 2024. Looking specifically at fully-electric BEVs, and excluding PHEVs, that increase rose to an even more significant 29%. In Germany and the UK in particular, this rise stands at approximately 40%, continuing the strong increases seen earlier on in 2025.
A significant proportion of global growth came from China, with local manufacturers such as BYD helping to further drive electric sales in the country.
In North America, year-on-year EV sales were also up 20%. However, this region will be a crucial area to watch in the future, particularly within the United States. Despite President Trump’s recent praise of automaker Tesla, the administration looks primed to remove previous EV incentives, as well as regulations on manufacturers to produce increasing numbers of electric cars, that were put in place under the previous Biden-Harris administration.
Rho Motion Data Manager, Charles Lester, commented on the firm’s findings:
“It’s been a solid start to the year for EV sales globally with a 50% bump in February compared to the previous year. Much of the growth continues to come from China which are seeing a pure electric renaissance this year compared to the hybrid love affair of 2024. Despite high tariffs, their domestic brand, BYD, shows no signs of slowing down their home and international expansion.
Meanwhile, in Europe, battery electric cars are flavour of the month with a leap of 29% year-to-date. France’s weight tax on plug-in hybrids has had a big impact on those vehicle sales which are down almost 50% so far this year. Manufacturers might be relieved that the EU has introduced flexibility into the emissions standards, but they will still need to put their foot to the pedal to avoid large fines.
As for North America, the region is seeing steady growth of 20% so far this year. American drivers bought 30% more electric vehicles than they had by this time last year, making use of the final months of IRA tax breaks before the incentives are expected to be pulled later this year.”
