The world of electric vehicles (EVs) just keeps humming along, hitting new highs. August saw a massive surge, with 1.7 million EVs sold globally. That’s a 5% jump from July and a solid 15% increase compared to August of last year. It seems more drivers are plugging in than ever before.
Most of these sales were battery-only electric vehicles (BEVs), totaling 1.16 million units. Plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) also did well, selling 570,000 units. Looking at the bigger picture, a whopping 12.5 million EVs have found new homes in the first eight months of this year alone. However, even with strong numbers, the growth pace in China did slow down a bit between July and August of this year.
A Global Snapshot of Growth
So, how does the year stack up against last year’s numbers? The first eight months of 2025 show some interesting trends for EVs across the world.
- Globally, sales hit 12.5 million, marking a 25% increase.
- China led the way with 7.6 million sales, also up 25%.
- Europe saw impressive growth with 2.6 million units sold, a 31% jump.
- North America added 1.3 million EVs, a more modest 6% increase.
- The rest of the world truly shined, selling 1.0 million units and showing a huge 44% growth.
Europe is really hitting the gas, showing some of the fastest growth on the planet. Its sales shot up 31% this year, with BEVs and PHEVs almost evenly matched. Germany is out front, with a big 45% boost in sales. The United Kingdom also saw a good 31% rise. Spain practically doubled its EV sales this year, and Italy wasn’t far behind with a 41% increase. France is the outlier, seeing a 9% drop in sales. Interestingly, the UK’s August sales dipped 32% from July. But this is pretty normal; it’s a typical seasonal slowdown right before a big pickup in September.
North America’s Mixed Signals
In North America, EV sales are up 6% this year so far. August actually broke records for monthly sales, which is great news. American buyers are hurrying to snag a federal tax credit before it ends on September 30th. Experts believe September will show very strong numbers. But don’t be surprised if sales take a sharp dip in the last three months of the year.
Meanwhile, Canada is facing some bumps in the road. EV sales there fell by a third this year. This happened after the iZEV discount program was put on hold. This slowdown, combined with a tough economy, could make the country’s 2026 EV sales goal impossible to reach. Prime Minister Mark Carney even paused the mandate while the government sorts out issues with US tariffs.
China’s Shifting Strategy
China, the biggest EV market by a long shot, saw an 11% rise in August sales from July. It was also up 6% from last year’s August numbers. Even with this, year-to-date sales are still 25% higher than last year. However, the overall growth has slowed down compared to 2024. That’s because a big subsidy for trading in old cars gave demand a huge boost back then. BYD, the leading company in China, has actually lowered its sales target for 2025. They originally aimed for 5.5 million units but now expect to sell 4.6 million. Up to a million of those are planned for international markets.