Global EV sales remain up YTD at 23% following 1.9 million EVs sold in October 2025

Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, specialising in EV supply chain research and insights, reports that 1.9 million electric vehicles were sold globally in October 2025.

Rho Motion Data Manager, Charles Lester, commented:

“Global EV sales reach 1.9 million units in October 2025, marking a 23% increase year-to-date. Europe led regional growth with a 36% year-on-year increase, driven by strong uptake in Germany (+53% y-o-y), France (+40% y-o-y), and the UK (+24% y-o-y). China remained resilient with 1.3 million units sold in October, up 6% year-on-year, while North America showed a slowdown following strong EV tax credit driven demand in September in the US. Overall, cumulative EV sales have surpassed 16.5 million units YTD, reflecting strong structural demand across major markets and the accelerating adoption of affordable and midsize electric vehicles”

Snapshot electric vehicle sales in YTD 2025 (Jan-Oct 2025) vs YTD 2024 (Jan-Oct 2024), YTD %

Europe

The European market grew by 36% y-o-y in October 2025, with 32% growth in BEVs and 47% in PHEVs. This keeps YTD EV growth in Europe at 32%. Month-on-month EV sales in Europe are down 13%, however, this is due to comparing to strong UK sales in September 2025 tied to new registration plates.

Germany EV sales have grown by 45% YTD, the UK by 31%, and France remains down at -2%. Spain has grown by more than double and Italy has grown by 45% YTD.

The European Commission also reported five battery cell projects that signed their Grant Agreements. These projects were selected earlier in the year to receive grants from the Innovation Fund. Total grants agreed as of 10 November 2025 totalled EUR643 million (USD744 million).

North America

Following monthly record highs in EV sales in August and September 2025 in the US, as consumers took advantage of the EV tax credit before it ended on September 30, 2025, EV sales have dropped significantly in October.

Comparing month-on-month BEV sales, Ford sales have fallen 60% (Mach-e, F-150, E-Transit), Hyundai down 77% (Ioniq models), Kia down 77% (EV6, EV9), Honda down 83% (Prologue), and Subaru down by 97% (Solterra). All these OEMs are also down on year-on-year figures.

EV sales in Canada continue a weak trajectory in 2025 due to the reduction in subsidies, alongside the suspension of the EV mandate for 2026 in September 2025.

China

China’s EV market was slightly down month-on-month by -2% in October 2025, with 1.3 million units sold. However, EV sales in China were up year-on-year by 6% and YTD remains up at 22%.

We expect a pull forward of some EV purchases in the final two months of the year as the full NEV purchase tax exemption is set to end on 31 December 2025. From next year, NEVs will move from being fully exempt from purchase tax to only 50% exempt.

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