Charging Forward evee Central

Global EV Sales Jump 27% This Year Despite Soft US Market

In a sharp rebuke to the anti-electrification agenda in the US, global EV sales are up 27% over last year, with some legacy automakers — but not all — indicating the potential for a successful transition to electric mobility.

Global EV Sales Up 27%

CleanTechnica has spilled much ink on the pace of plug-in hybrid and full EV adoption, and the latest report from the UK firm Rho Motion (a branch of the price reporting agency Benchmark Mineral Intelligence) adds some fresh insights.

Covering the first seven months of 2025, earlier today Rho Motion totaled up more than 10.7 million EVs sold for a “robust” 27% increase over the same period last year, with China leading the pack by a wide margin.

Europe also contributed to the overall robustness. Germany and the UK racked  up impressive gains and Italy also turning in a mentionable performance. “The European EV market has grown by 30% year-to-date, with strong momentum in both battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), up 30% and 32% respectively,” Rho Motion summarized.

“In contrast, North America’s growth has been muted so far in 2025, with the US facing policy headwinds and Canada seeing a slowdown,” Rho Motion Data Manager Charles Lester observed.

“We expect a short-term lift in US demand ahead of the IRA consumer tax credit deadline in September, followed by a likely dip,” Lester added.

That short-term lift won’t help North America catch up to Europe, as neatly illustrated by Rho Motion’s EV sales snapshot:

• Global: 10.7 million, +27%
• China: 6.5 million, +29%
• Europe: 2.3 million, +30%
• North America: 1.0 million, +2%
• Rest of World: 0.9 million, +42%

EV Sales In The UK

Earlier this week, the nonprofit organization Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit also added some interesting detail to the EV sales picture in the UK. It’s interesting because it demonstrates that some legacy automakers have become adept at pushing the EV sales envelope, and that has some interesting implications for the US market particularly in regards to Ford.

“All of the 10 best performing manufacturers more than doubled their EV sales — and in some cases quadrupled — in the first six months of 2025, compared to the first six months of 2024,” summarized ECIU head of communications lead George Smeeton, giving a shoutout to Ford as well as Renault and Mini:

“Having struggled in 2024, starting the year with just one model of electric car on sale, Ford has enjoyed the most dramatic increase in the number of EVs that it has sold. EV sales for the legacy manufacturer in the first six months of 2025 were a remarkable 324% higher than the first six months of 2024 with the arrival of new models including the sub-£30k Ford Puma Gen-E.”

A Promising Sign For Ford’s “Model T Moment”

The ECIU news came out on August 11, the very day that Ford announced an ambitious $5 billion plan to manufacture affordable EVs in the US with a target price of around $30,000.

On Monday, Ford rolled out some key details about the plan, which pivots around low cost LFP batteries and a new, three-branched modular assembly line to replace the traditional single-file assembly line. The company will use the same platform to manufacture passenger cars, vans, and pickup trucks, with the truck slated to roll out first.

With the new “Model T Moment” in hand, Ford expects to catch EV sales leader Tesla napping. “Lower cost of ownership over five years than a three-year-old used Tesla Model Y,” Ford noted in its press materials announcing its intent to send more affordable EVs into the US market.