As the sale of EVs grows, so do the complexities around their success. The Q1 of 2025 saw a sharp rise in electric vehicle (EV) sales recording a 42% year-on-year increase in battery electric vehicle (BEV) registrations through global markets. In spite of this, the global shift towards full electrification appears slower than forecasted by analysts just a few years ago. The data, collated by PwC Autofacts and Strategy&, suggests an ongoing divergence in adoption trajectories driven by geopolitical pressures, regional policy frameworks and market conditions.
China’s Accelerated Push
No surprise here, China continued to lead the global EV charge accounting for over 60% of global BEV sales. The country saw 1.64 million BEV sales in Q1 2025, which is a 55% increase over Q1 2024. This surge was fuelled by ongoing government stimulus, including trade-in incentives to accelerate fleet modernisation. China also posted 994,000 PHEV sales, marking a 37% rise, with its combined EV market share reaching 47%, indicating scale and policy momentum. ICE vehicle sales declined as usual, continuing a trend now ten quarters long.
Chinese brands like Geely’s Xingyuan and BYD’s Seagull have dominated sales charts, while international players such as Tesla have started to lose relative ground. The rise of Xiaomi’s SU7 and XPeng’s Mona M03 further highlights the growing domestic competition within the world’s largest EV market.
Europe Shows A Measured Rebound
The European EV market which comprises the EU, UK, and EFTA nations rebounded in Q1 2025 after three consecutive quarters of decline. BEV sales in the top five markets (Germany, UK, France, Italy, Spain) rose by 30%, with strong growth in Italy (73%) and Spain (69%), although from lower bases. Germany reported a 39% rise benefitting from a weak comparative quarter in 2024 following the withdrawal of incentives. The UK saw a 43% increase and now holds the highest BEV market share at 21%.
However, France bucked the trend with a 7% drop in BEV sales, impacted by the expiry of its low-income lease subsidy. Across Europe, the total market share for electrified vehicles (BEVs, PHEVs, and hybrids) exceeded 60%, highlighting a continued shift but also indicating that hybrids are playing a vital interim role. Hybrids accounted for the largest share in Europe with 1.2 million units sold, a 20% increase year-on-year.
The European Commission’s new Action Plan reflects the challenges faced. It aims to safeguard competitiveness, support local battery production, improve skills in the e-mobility workforce and extend compliance flexibility for CO₂ standards. These are intended to counterbalance cheaper foreign imports, mostly from China, and to address rising production costs from managing ICE and EV portfolios in parallel.
US’s Growth Got Tapered By Policy Uncertainty
In the United States, BEV sales grew by 18% in Q1 2025 to 301,000 units, driven in part by consumer concerns over the potential rollback of the federal EV tax credit under the new administration. BEV market share reached a record 8% for any Q1 period.
On the other hand though, PHEV sales declined by 11% due to changes in battery sourcing rules which rendered several models ineligible for incentives. Hybrid vehicles still remain a popular alternative growing by 47% year-on-year, indicating a slower consumer shift towards full electric vehicles. ICE vehicles still dominated at 78% of total sales, reflecting a stark contrast with Europe and China.
India Has Early Momentum With A Low Base
The Indian EV market is nascent but is showing encouraging signs of growth. BEV sales rose sharply by 152% to over 15,000 units in Q1 2025. While these volumes remain small compared to global leaders, the pace of growth is healthy, especially considering the limited policy support and infrastructure.
Hybrid vehicles continue to outperform BEVs in volume, with 93,000 units sold in Q1, a 1.5% increase over the previous year. PHEVs remain practically absent, with only 30 units recorded for the entire quarter. Total EV market share reached 12%, with BEVs alone comprising 3% of sales. These numbers suggest that while consumer interest is growing. But deeper adoption will depend heavily on incentives, local manufacturing and a severely expedited charging network.
Production Trends
Future outlook suggest that global EV production is expected to grow from 39.1 million units in 2025 to 68.1 million by 2030, representing a 74% increase. China and Western Europe are forecast to remain the dominant production hubs. The market will also see the introduction of several new global BEV platforms across brands like Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, Volkswagen, and Xiaomi between 2025 and 2029.
Despite positive sales growth, the subtext from Q1 2025 is that the transition to electric mobility is complex, regionally uneven and increasingly influenced by politics, resource control and manufacturing competitiveness. The slowdown in PHEV growth in many markets and the stronger-than-expected hybrid uptake point to an industry that is still hedging its bets while grappling with infrastructural and economic hurdles.
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