- Sales of electric vehicles grew by 35% globally in 2024
- The UK EV sales market was up by almost 20%
- Over 1.9 million EV units were sold in December 2024 alone
Global electric vehicles (EV) sales grew by 25%, or 17.1 million, in 2024 compared to 2023, according to leading research centre Rho Motion.
Over 1.9 million EVs were sold in December 2024 alone, a growth of 5% on November’s figure and the fourth successive global monthly record of sales.
As of the end of 2024, there are around 1,360,000 fully electric cars in the UK, or 4.01% of the 34 million cars on UK roads.
The US and Canadian EV market grew by 9% in 2024 with a total of 1.8 million units sold, helped by President Trump’s announcement to cut vehicle tax credits. They ended 2024 with a record number of December EV sales at over 185,000 and have consistently grown by an average of 10% throughout the year.
The EU, European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and UK market ended the calendar year down 3% compared to 2023.
Charles Lester, Rho Motion Data Manager, said while there is growth globally, there are significant regional differences when it comes to EV sales.
China, for example, saw 40% growth in EV sales in 2024 with 11 million, far higher than the rest of the world which only saw a 27% increase, with just over 1.3 million sales.
“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 has grown by 40%,” Lester said.
Despite being down overall in 2024, EU, EFTA & UK markets sold 300,000 EV units in December and the European market saw a 12% MoM 1% YoY increase. The UK market individually was up by almost 20%, supported by the ZEV mandates. It also sold the most battery electric vehicles (BEV) sales at over 400,000 units.
The German EV market saw a decrease in 2024 vs 2023 due to the removal of subsidies that resulted in a negative sales impact.
With the potential for the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) emission standards or EV tax credit to be reversed, both of which being essential to the adoption of EVs across the US, there is concern that the US market will decrease in 2025.
However, with Elon Musk assuming a role in the US government, it’s hard to predict if he will have a positive or negative impact on the sale of EVs.
Lester continued: “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.”
