Global sales of electric vehicles show strong growth but performance by different markets varies wildly.

Regional EV sales have been a mixed bag so far this year

A total of 1.4 million EVs were sold globally in July, new data from Rho Motion reveals. The figure fell 5% from June but was up 21% year on year.

The rise brings the year-to-date sales figure up to 8.4 million. Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) represent 65% and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) accounted for 35% of sales in 2024 so far. The market share of PHEVs has grown by 5 percentage points compared to the same period in 2023 where PHEVs represented almost a third of total EV sales.

Regional disparities continue to grow in though. July EV sales for the EU/EFTA/UK fell year on year by 8% compared to July 2023 while China’s market grew by 31%, the USA/Canada were up 7% while the rest of the world rose 41%.

For the first seven months of the year, China was up 31% while the EU/EFTA/UK stayed static, USA/Canada rose 10% and the rest of the world rose 31%.

Global EV sales have been strong this year and continue to flourish in various markets

Charles Lester, lead EV data analyst at Rho Motion, said: “The EV market has definitely been a mixed bag so far this year. Globally, sales have been strong and are continuing to flourish in China, North America and fledgling EV markets. However, EU’s sales are stalling, especially in Germany, and EU tariffs on Chinese EVs are likely to impact this even further.

“Despite the region’s woes, France and the UK are weathering the storm and have grown their domestic markets. We would expect to see these trends play out over the rest of the year unless drastic measures are put into place.”

Rho Motion said a key driver to the reduction in EV sales in Europe were the weaker results from Germany following the end of the subsidy last year. However, EV sales have grown in the UK and France so far this year, with France’s market growing by 6%.

In the US and Canada, EV sales have grown by 10% YTD from January to the end of July 2024 compared to the same period in 2023. General Motor’s production of the Blazer EV and Equinox continues to ramp up, with over 10,000 units produced combined in July 2024 – over 5,000 units of the Honda Prologue EV were also produced.

While China’s EV sales have grown by 31% so far this year, most of this increase has come from growth in PHEV sales. PHEVs have grown by 70% YTD and BEVs by 12%. There were record-high PHEV sales in July 2024 in China, with 0.4 million units. This growth is due to both a rising number of models available from manufacturers including range extender EVs (REEVs) as well as companies such as BYD continuing to increase PHEV production and sales.