In 2021, when electric cars were still a story you told carefully, exactly two models accounted for about a fifth of everything sold worldwide. Fast-forward to 2025, and five models do it — but the direction of travel changed, and almost nobody noticed.

By the end of 2025, one in every four new cars sold on Earth was electric. That is 21 million vehicles, up more than 20% on 2024, and it happened while the United States — the world’s third-largest market — went backwards.

This is the story of how electric cars stopped being a conversation about the future and became a fight about the present.

All figures below are from the International Energy Agency’s Global EV Outlook 2026 and its Global Energy Review 2026.

The Year Everything Tipped

Market	2025 electric car sales	Change	Share of all car sales
Worldwide	21 million	+20%	25%
China	—	—	Over half, a first
European Union	—	+30%	—
United Kingdom	—	+25%	—
Norway	—	—	Record 96% battery electric
United States	—	−2%	About 10%
Emerging markets ex-China	—	+80%	—

Three things happened at once, and they are more interesting than the headline number.

1. China crossed the halfway line

In 2025, electric cars took more than half of all car sales in China for the first time. Not a quarter. Not a plurality. A majority.

Almost all of that growth came from pure battery electric vehicles rather than hybrids — plug-in hybrid sales rose only 4% while BEVs carried the growth. Chinese electric heavy-truck sales tripled, passing 200,000 units in a single year.

By the end of 2024, roughly one in ten cars on Chinese roads was already electric, and the global electric fleet had reached nearly 58 million vehicles, about 4% of the world’s passenger fleet and more than triple the 2021 figure.

2. The US went backwards, for a reason

American electric car sales fell 2% in 2025 — the only major market to contract. The cause was not consumer rejection. Sales had hit an all-time high in Q3 2025, before the federal tax credits were eliminated in September. The decline followed the policy, and the removal of fines for missing fuel-economy standards at the same time.

That is the uncomfortable part of the story. A technology can be winning globally and still lose a national market on a legislative decision made in a few weeks.

3. The growth moved to places nobody was watching

This is the genuine surprise of 2025. Electric car sales in emerging and developing economies outside China grew by around 80% — a total volume roughly equal to Australia’s entire annual car market, achieved in a single year.

Emerging market	2025 result
Southeast Asia	Sales more than doubled, led by Thailand and Viet Nam
Indonesia	Up 125%
India	Electric car sales up over 75%; all EVs hit a record 2.3 million units
Brazil	Over 30,000 electric cars in Q1 2025 alone, up 40% year-on-year

Europe also overtook China as the fastest-growing major market, with EU sales up 30%. A huge share of that volume is Chinese-manufactured, and Chinese brands now account for more than half of all BEV models available globally as well as more than half of global BEV sales.

Wait — aren’t EVs more available than ever?

Oddly, no. In 2020, two models accounted for about a fifth of global electric car sales. In 2025, five models did — the Tesla Model Y alone at nearly 8%, then the Model 3 at 3.6%, Geely’s Xingyuan at 3.5%, the Wuling HongGuang Mini at 3.1% and the BYD Seagull at 3.0%.

Out of 630 battery electric models available worldwide in 2025, roughly 1% captured a fifth of the entire market. The top 35 models accounted for about half of all electric car sales.

So choice is expanding and concentration is rising at the same time. That sounds contradictory until you notice the direction of travel: in 2025, sales skewed hard toward large cars and SUVs, which accounted for almost 70% of the global EV market. The cheap, small models that would genuinely widen access are the ones losing share.

The Honest Problem: It’s Still a Minority of Cars

Here is where most EV writing stops being useful, so it is worth being blunt about the limits.

A quarter of new car sales does not mean a quarter of cars on the road. With a typical replacement cycle, today’s electric fleet is still a small share of vehicles in use. And the infrastructure has not kept pace: global public charging capacity would need to grow roughly ninefold by 2030 to support the volumes current policies imply.

Even in 2030, on today’s policy settings, electric cars are projected to account for only around 2.5% of total global electricity demand while exceeding 40% of new car sales. That gap between how we talk about EVs and how much power they actually consume is enormous, and it is the single most overhyped claim in the sector.

What is genuinely improving is price. The sales-weighted average purchase price of electric cars fell across almost every segment in China, Germany and the United States during 2025, helped by lower battery cell prices and aggressive manufacturer pricing. Battery pack prices have fallen in all markets, though the reduction is uneven and new tariffs could reverse it.

What This Means Where You Actually Live

Global percentages are close to useless if you are making a decision somewhere else, so let me be specific about Nigeria.

Electric car adoption here is still marginal. Vehicle import costs, charging infrastructure, spare-parts networks and range on bad roads all stack up against it. Anyone claiming otherwise is selling something.

But the direction matters, and it is worth understanding the honest arithmetic:

• Charging is a load. A home charger is a sustained high-wattage draw, usually overnight when solar is not generating — which makes it a genuine candidate for battery storage. A typical EV draws more than most Nigerian homes use in total on a light day.
• Running costs still favour the car. With petrol prices where they have been, an EV has a very low running cost per kilometre, and the arithmetic improves if you charge mostly on solar you already have.
• The honest pairing is solar plus storage. If you charge an EV overnight from a battery bank, you have converted fuel import into stored sunshine. Our guide to sizing a solar inverter and battery bank covers the calculation, and it is the same arithmetic as any other large load.

We are a solar business, so treat that last point as advocacy. But it is the reason we think transport electrification and off-grid power will arrive in Nigeria as one story rather than two.

Frequently Asked Questions

What share of new cars were electric in 2025?

One in four — about 25% of new cars sold worldwide, on 21 million units, up more than 20% on 2024.

Which country sold the most electric cars in 2025?

China, by a distance. Electric cars took more than half of all Chinese car sales in 2025, the first time that has happened, and Chinese manufacturers accounted for more than half of global electric car sales.

Did electric car sales fall anywhere in 2025?

In the United States, where sales declined 2% — largely because federal tax credits were eliminated in September 2025. Every other major market grew, with the EU up 30% and emerging markets outside China up around 80%.

Are electric cars cheaper than petrol cars now?

Getting closer. Average purchase prices fell across most segments in 2025 and battery pack prices declined globally. But in several markets electric cars still carry a price premium, and new tariffs on batteries could reverse the trend.

How much electricity will electric cars actually use?

Surprisingly little in the grand scheme. Even with electric cars projected above 40% of new sales by 2030, they would account for only around 2.5% of total global electricity demand. Claims that mass EV adoption will strain the grid are not supported by the numbers.

Can I charge an electric car with home solar?

Yes, and it is one of the more compelling uses for a home battery bank, because charging is a large overnight draw at a time when panels are not generating. Size it the same way as any other large load — the AC on solar article covers a similar case.

Are electric cars worth it in Nigeria right now?

Not for most buyers yet, on cost and infrastructure grounds. The running-cost argument is genuinely strong, and it gets stronger if you charge on solar, but import cost, charging access and parts remain real barriers. Be sceptical of anyone telling you the switch is already obvious here.

How big is the global electric car fleet compared with sales?

Still small. At the end of 2024 the global electric fleet had reached nearly 58 million vehicles — about 4% of the passenger fleet, though more than triple the 2021 level. A quarter of new sales does not translate into a quarter of cars on the road for years, which is why electric cars remain a minority of the fleet.

What Electric Cars Mean Now, and What They Do Not

Electric cars did not win because of better technology. They won because of price competition, policy and manufacturing scale, mostly in one country — and when the policy was removed in the largest remaining market, that market immediately went backwards.

That is the real story of 2025. Not a technology triumph, but a competition between manufacturers and governments, playing out on a road network that is not evenly electrified yet.

The number to remember is one in four. The number to be sceptical of is any claim about the grid struggling to cope.

Sources: IEA Global EV Outlook 2026 · IEA Global Energy Review 2026