Rho Motion reports record year with global EV sales up 25%
January 14, 2025

Electric vehicle (EV) research specialist Rho Motion has announced that, following the fourth successive global monthly record of passenger car and light-duty EV sales, a total of 17.1 million EVs were sold in 2024. Overall, global EV sales grew by 25% year on year in 2024.
The continuing growth in EV sales was largely driven by China with sales of 11 million in 2024, up 40% compared to 2023. This followed another monthly record for EV sales reached in December 2024 with over 1.3 million units sold. Elsewhere, the US and Canada market grew by 9% in 2024 but the European market ended the year down 3% compared to 2023.
“After the record-breaking year in 2023 for EV sales we entered 2024 with some optimism about the market despite headwinds,” stated Charles Lester, Rho Motion Data Manager. “While overall the global market has boomed, growing by a quarter over the year, the regional disparities have also grown. Europe’s market has shrunk 3% and China’s grown by 40%.”
“What is clear is that government ‘carrots and sticks’ are working. In North America, the 9% growth can mostly be attributed to consumer subsidies and over in the UK, the ZEV mandate has highly incentivised manufacturers to push their low emission cars. Meanwhile the removal of subsidies in Germany had a devastating impact on the whole European market; if the US follows suit, we may see the same there.”
China
A huge part of growth in China came from PHEVs in 2024 (growth of 81%, compared to 19% in BEVs). The rise in demand for range-extender electric vehicles is thought to have played a significant role in the growth of PHEVs in China, a technology that has yet to come to Western markets en masse, reports Rho Motion.
The Chinese market benefited from its car trade-in scheme, which was doubled in July 2024 and has been extended for 2025.
BYD’s sales grew throughout the year; over one-third of new EVs sold in China are from the company’s portfolio, which consists of forty models across four brands. In response to the EU BEV tariffs, BYD has announced plans to begin production at its facility in Hungary in 2025.
Europe
The total EU & EFTA and UK EV sales were reported to be 3.0 million for 2024. The UK market had the most battery electric vehicle (BEV) sales with over 400,000 units sold, surpassing Germany’s YTD sales towards the end of the year. The German EV market was down in 2024 vs 2023 following the removal of subsidies at the end of 2023, ultimately having a negative impact on sales. However, the UK EV market was up by almost 20%, bolstered by the ZEV mandate.
Norway continues to have the highest penetration rate in the world and reached over 90% passenger car and light-duty EV sales monthly penetration towards the end of 2024.
US & Canada
The US & Canadian market ended the year on a high, with record EV sales in December 2024 of over 185,000 units sold. The North American market has consistently grown by ~10% throughout the year and finishes with a total of 1.8 million units sold in 2024.
Rho Motion expects that the US’s EV market will be tested in 2025, with the threat of the EPA emission standards or EV tax credit potentially being reversed, both of which have been essential drivers of EV adoption in the US. Despite this risk to EV adoption in the US, there are still many facilities being built across the supply chain for EVs and EV batteries, with some funded from the US Department of Energy (most recently being Rivian’s $6.6 billion conditional loan from the DOE’s Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing (ATVM) programme).