🚗 Electric cars sold at record pace globally in 2025

• Global sales of electric vehicles reach nearly 22 million cars in 2025, an increase of 25 percent from the previous year.
• Electric vehicles will account for a quarter of all passenger cars sold globally this year.
• Battery technology continues to improve with better safety, performance and cost.

Technical development drives growth

Global sales of electric vehicles are expected to reach a new record level in 2025. According to BloombergNEF's Electric Vehicle Outlook 2025, sales will amount to nearly 22 million passenger cars, representing an increase of 25 percent compared to 2024.

In 2025, electric vehicles will account for 25 percent of all new passenger cars sold globally. This is an increase from less than 5 percent of global vehicle sales just a few years ago.

The underlying technologies behind electrification continue to improve rapidly. The latest generation of batteries offers better safety, performance and cost. The commercialization of solid-state batteries is now underway.

The charging experience for consumers is also improving. Many national fast charging networks have doubled in size over the past 18 months. The first electric vehicles able to offer charging times competitive with gasoline or diesel refueling are now available.

Range-extended electric vehicles are the fastest-growing drivetrain in the world. Sales rose 83 percent in 2024 to 1.2 million cars. These vehicles are a variant of plug-in hybrids but are used more like fully electric cars, with average battery pack sizes of 39 kWh and average electric range of 170 kilometers.

Electrification spreads to other vehicles

Electrification continues to spread rapidly in other areas of road transport beyond passenger cars. Sales of electric trucks and vans are increasing significantly. More than half of city bus sales in Europe are now electric.

38 percent of two-wheelers sold in 2024 were electric, driven by growing demand in the moped and scooter segments. Falling battery prices and rising penetration of low-cost battery chemistries, such as sodium-ion and lithium iron phosphate, help electric vehicle sales grow to 93 million by 2040.

Three-wheelers electrify much faster, with electric vehicles making up more than 80 percent of all sales in 2024. Commercial entities make up the bulk of three-wheeler buyers and these customers respond quickly to the attractive savings on total cost of ownership.

Batteries and energy demand

Solid-state batteries are expected to account for 10 percent of global electric vehicle and energy storage demand by 2035. These next-generation batteries offer significant advantages in safety and energy density.

The battery industry is still grappling with overcapacity, which is driving down battery prices and intensifying competition. Average utilization of battery plants is now below 50 percent. Planned risk-adjusted lithium-ion cell manufacturing capacity by the end of 2025 is 3.8 TWh, more than double the 1.5 TWh global battery demand expected this year.

Charging infrastructure grows rapidly

Electric vehicle charging is evolving from a small market to one that will serve a significant portion of global electricity demand. It requires almost $900 billion in investment by 2040.

Direct current fast chargers account for almost 70 percent of annual investment in 2025, as funds flow to build the public charging network. By the late 2030s, alternating current chargers take the largest portion of investment.

Revenue from public charging in Europe and North America increases 22-fold from $10 billion in 2025 to $220 billion in 2040. The growth is an opportunity for new entrants to the charging market but poses an existential threat to traditional fuel retailers.

Impact on oil market

By the end of 2026, an additional 1 million barrels per day of oil will be displaced globally compared to 2024. The first million daily barrels of oil displacement occurred in 2018 and it took six years to displace the next million. By 2030, road fuel consumption would have been 5.3 million barrels per day higher had every kilometer driven by electric vehicles been driven with an internal combustion engine vehicle.

Passenger cars displace the most oil demand from 2026. Oil demand avoided by passenger cars exceeds that for any other vehicle segment in 2026 and all other segments combined in 2029.

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