Investing.com — Global sales of fully electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles increased by a quarter in 2024, reaching over 17 million cars.
This rise was supported by a fourth consecutive month of record sales in December, with China’s market continuing to expand and Europe’s stabilizing, according to data released on Tuesday.
Sales growth was driven by incentives and emission targets, which boosted EV sales in China and helped the UK surpass Germany as Europe’s largest battery-electric market in 2024, as reported by research firm Rho Motion.
The year 2025 is being eyed as a pivotal one by electric car manufacturers. This is due to a potential slowdown in China’s sales growth, the introduction of new emissions targets in Europe, and uncertainty surrounding potential policy changes in the U.S. under the incoming Trump administration.
According to Rho Motion data, global sales of fully electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles increased by 25.6% year-on-year to 1.9 million in December. Despite this, the growth rate slowed for the second consecutive month.
In China, sales surged by 36.5% to 1.3 million vehicles in December, bringing the total sales for 2024 to 11 million. Meanwhile, in the United States and Canada, EV sales increased by 8.8% to 0.19 million in December.
Europe reported sales of 0.31 million, a slight increase of 0.7% from December 2023. In the rest of the world, sales for December rose by 26.4%.
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