Global Electric Car Sales Surge by 69%

In a recent report by market research firm Rho Motion, it was revealed that the global sales of electric vehicles experienced a significant increase of 69 percent in January as compared to the same month in the previous year. However, when compared to the preceding month of December, there was a drop of 26 percent in sales. The statistics showed that the sales of fully electric cars, also known as battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrids, reached a substantial figure of 1.1 million in January. This was a significant improvement from the 660,000 sales recorded in January of the previous year, 2023.

Charles Lester, who heads the data division at Rho Motion, spoke to Reuters about the fluctuation in sales in different regions. He revealed that in countries like Germany and France, there was a sharp decrease in electric vehicle sales by around 50% in January compared to December. This was due to Germany’s decision to eliminate its subsidies and France’s move to impose stricter requirements for its subsidies. Despite this downturn, Lester expressed optimism for the future of electric vehicle sales in these regions. He said that the new CO2 limits set by the European Union, which will be enforced in 2025, will push car manufacturers to focus more on BEV and hybrid models this year.

Lester stated, “What will really boost sales will be the EU emissions standards for 2025.” On the other hand, in the U.S. and Canada, the sales of electric vehicles in January rose by 41 percent from the previous year and nearly doubled in China. Even in the EU, the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), and the UK, there was an increase in sales by 29 percent. However, similar to the global trend, sales in China saw a decrease of 26 percent when compared to December, ahead of the Chinese New Year celebrations. Sales also dipped by 32 percent in Europe and by 14 percent in the United States and Canada.