Worldwide sales of electric vehicles (EVs) surged in February, driven mostly by a 76 per cent growth in China even as Europe and the United States erected import barriers to stem the domination of made-in-China marques.
Global sales of battery-powered EVs and hybrids jumped to 1.2 million units in February, 50 per cent more than last year, according to data compiled by Rho Motion. About three-quarters of those took place in China, where purchases soared 87 per cent from last year, according to data released separately by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
“Much of the growth continues to come from China, which is seeing a sales renaissance of pure electric [vehicles] this year compared to the hybrid love affair of 2024,” Rho’s data manager Charles Lester said.
China continued its outsize domination of the world’s market for EVs and oil-guzzling vehicles. Sales in the first two months of 2025 – which coincided with the Lunar New Year, a seasonal peak for splashing out – rose 35 per cent to 1.4 million units, about 60 per cent of what was sold worldwide during the same period.
