Almost a third more e-cars sold in 2025

Sales Nearly One Third More Electric Cars Sold in 2025

2026-01-29 Source: dpa 2 min Reading Time

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Significantly more all-electric cars were sold worldwide last year. Plug-in hybrids may have reached the maximum possible sales volume.

In 2025, significantly more e-cars were sold worldwide.(Image: Volkswagen) — In 2025, significantly more e-cars were sold worldwide.
(Image: Volkswagen)

Electric cars are gaining in importance worldwide. Last year, around 13.7 million purely battery-electric cars were newly delivered. This is according to an analysis of the most important markets by the consulting firms PwC Autofacts and Strategy &. That was more than 3.1 million BEVs more than in 2024, an increase of 30 percent.

By far the most important market is China, where almost nine million new e-cars were counted. However, growth there is only slightly above average at 33 percent. This is followed by Europe with 2.6 million BEVs and growth of 30 percent. The most important markets here were Germany with 545,000 cars, up 43%, the UK with 473,000, up 24%, and France with 327,000, up 12%.

"Very Dynamic Growth in Europe and Germany"

"We are seeing very dynamic growth in Europe and in the leading market of Germany," says Harald Wimmer from PwC. "This development is driven by an increasingly wide range of attractive and powerful models." Vehicle and battery manufacturers have done their homework. The return to a uniform and familiar design language and naming is also helping.

The USA recorded 1.2 million new e-cars for the year as a whole - a minimal decline. Since tax benefits expired there at the end of September, sales have slumped. In the fourth quarter, it was 31 percent below the previous year's figure.

A look at the market shares shows just how different the three major markets are: While purely electric cars make up a third of the market in China, they only account for 19 percent in Europe and eight percent in the USA. However, if cars with electric drives in the broader sense are included - i.e. plug-in hybrids and hybrids without plugs - the ratio is reversed: Europe is then ahead of China with a share of 63% and 54% respectively. The USA remains clearly in third place with 22 percent.

Slower Growth Expected

For the coming years, the experts expect further significant, albeit no longer as strong, growth in electric cars. In addition, plug-in hybrids may have passed their global peak, according to PwC. In the fourth quarter, they recorded declining registration figures worldwide - driven by the Chinese market, which is considered an early indicator of global trends.

"The ramp-up of electromobility is continuing and is changing markets worldwide," says Jörn Neuhausen from Strategy&. The next step will be a comprehensive approach that goes beyond the electric car - for example with bidirectional charging, which transforms vehicles into mobile electricity storage units.

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Date: 08.12.2025

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