Introduction
In this guide, we serve you the latest facts, figures, and forecasts about the electric vehicle and EV charging market and its predicted growth for 2026 and beyond.
The global electric car market share has taken a tremendous leap forward in the past decade, and we expect the trend to only accelerate in the coming years.
In a number of countries, EVs are on a path to become a mass-market product. Even though there are some concerns arising about the industry’s pace of growth, global sales data are proving that we’ve only just scratched the surface.
Historical EV market data
To understand the current situation of the electric vehicle industry, let’s look at what happened in the past couple of years.
The year 2020 did not show a significant growth in overall new car registrations. The global market for all types of cars was negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic downturn that followed. Amid the pandemic, the outlook for the growth of electric vehicles was quite unpredictable at the beginning of the year.
However, as time showed, 2020 turned out to be a surprisingly positive year, with global EV sales growing by 43% from 2019 and the global electric car industry market share rising to a record 4,6%.
The year 2021 was a major leap forward for electric vehicle sales as they doubled from 2020 to 6.75 million. The number of EVs sold in a week in 2021 was higher than how many were sold in the whole year of 2012.
The year 2022 broke records with EV sales exceeding 10 million. That resulted in more than 26 million electric cars roaming global roads in 2022, representing a 60% uptake from 2021.
Carried by a decarbonisation challenge and supported by various policies and incentives, global EV sales kept accelerating in 2023. According to the IEA, the global electric car sales reached almost 14 million, which represented a 35% increase from 2022. This growth meant that the global electric fleet rose to 40 million in 2023.
Global electric car market share and size
EVs are to play a central role in the ambitious objective of zero-emission targets set for 2050, and the industry is gearing up for it.
The year 2024 brought an increase of 3 million EVs, bringing the total to 17 million electric cars sold globally and exceeding 20% of new car sales. Overall, the global electric fleet had almost 58 million cars at the end of 2024.
Source: Global EV Outlook 2025
China, Europe, and the USA remained the largest markets for electric vehicles, accounting for around 95% of all sales in 2024.
Source: Global EV Outlook 2025 & EV Volumes
Regarding the availability of EV models, 785 electric car models were available for consumers in 2024, an increase of 15% compared to the previous year. It’s predicted that 1,000 models will be available by 2026.
The 1st quarter of 2025 was off to a great start, with over 4 million EVs sold worldwide – 35% more than in 2024. By the end of the year, the IEA projects over 20 million new electric cars sold. That’s a 25% year-on-year increase, pushing EV sales to account for one in every four new vehicles sold globally.
The IEA sees great growth potential, especially outside of the core markets of China, Europe, and the USA. Strong growth predictions are made for the emerging countries of Asia, Latin America, and Africa. That is a good sign that e-mobility is finding its way to the rest of the world.
In Southeast Asia, sales grew nearly 50% in 2024. Thailand’s EV sales share climbed to 13%, while Indonesia’s tripled. Latin America also surged, with Brazil more than doubling its sales to 125,000 units (over 6% market share) and other countries like Colombia and Costa Rica achieving about 15% penetration.
Africa remains under 1% share, though sales more than doubled in 2024, driven by Egypt and Morocco.
Policy support, such as tax breaks, import duty waivers, and local production incentives, is key in emerging markets.
How’s the situation in Europe?
Due to policy changes and various purchasing incentives expiring, especially in Germany and France, Europe’s market share remained stagnant at 20% in 2024.
The stricter European CO2 emission standards should increase the continent’s EV sales share to 25% in 2025. By 2030, the number should increase close to 60%.
The United Kingdom had a strong year in 2024, with sales share reaching nearly 30%, up from 24% in 2023. This is mainly due to the Vehicle Emissions Trading Scheme, which requires 22% of all new registrations to be battery electric vehicles (BEVs) or fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs).
Already a very electrified country, Norway saw 88% of car sales being BEVs and under 3% plug-in hybrids.
The state of heavy-duty electric vehicles
Electrification of the heavy-duty sector is integral to our journey towards zero-emission transportation. While heavy-duty trucks only account for 10% of all internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, they are responsible for over 70% of ICE’s CO2 emissions.
Electric trucks
Global electric truck sales surged nearly 80% in 2024, hitting 2% of total truck sales. Development and implementation are mainly concentrated in the Chinese market, where 75,000 electric trucks were sold in 2024, accounting for over 80% of global sales.
Total cost of ownership (TCO) parity is already a reality in China for many use cases, while Europe and the US are expected to reach it by 2030.
Government efforts to reduce emissions from heavy-duty trucks are worth highlighting. The EU aims for 45% emission cuts in trucks by 2030 and 90% by 2040.
There are over 800 electric truck models available globally. In 2024, Volvo and Scania released long-range electric trucks with over 600 km of range.
Electric buses
Electric buses have been growing in popularity since 2020. In 2024, global sales reached over 70,000, driven mainly by high growth in China. Europe, being the second biggest market for EV buses, increased its sales by 15%.
The Clean Vehicles Directive provides targets for public procurement of electric buses in European Union countries. The overall EU aim is for all new city buses to be zero-emission by 2030. Countries like Norway, Denmark, Finland, and the Netherlands already have about 40% of electric bus sales shares.
The state of other light-duty electric vehicles
The entire transportation industry is turning electric
Light commercial vehicles (LCV)
Electric LCVs saw considerable growth in 2024, with sales growing by over 40%. The two biggest markets for electric LCVs were China, where sales exceeded 450,000, and Europe, where, however, we saw a 10% decline, bringing the number to 120,000.
The United Kingdom, Europe’s largest market for electric LCVs, saw almost a 7% sales share. Due to the Vehicle Emission Trading Scheme, which lays out zero-emissions van targets, we expect the sales share to accelerate.
Europe as a whole will see a higher sales share of electric LCVs due to their already equal or even lower TCO for specific use cases compared to their combustion engine counterparts.
Some European cities like London, Amsterdam, Brussels and Stockholm have promoted the uptake of electric LCVs by introducing Low Emissions Zones (LEZ).
Two and three-wheelers
Electric two- and three-wheelers accounted for 15% of total sales in 2024, making them the most electrified vehicle segment globally.
Historically, China dominated the electric two-and three-wheeler market, but sales have been on the decline in the region since 2023. Despite that, China, together with India and Southeast Asia, remained the largest markets for electric two—and three-wheelers, accounting for 80% of global sales.
Used electric cars
The used car market for electric vehicles plays a decisive role in promoting electric mobility to the masses. With increasing EV sales figures, used vehicles are becoming more available and affordable.
In the EU, eight out of ten people buy their cars used. Since the market for electric vehicles is now mature, the availability of used cars is also increasing.
Government incentives, increasing battery life, and falling prices play significant roles in the growth of the used EV market.
Similar to internal combustion engines, where purchasing a used car is often the preferred method of buying in emerging and industrialised countries, we can expect a similar pattern to form for electric vehicles.
to be continue in next blog