Global sales of electric vehicles and hybrids rose by 24% in May to 1.6 million as China recorded sales of one million vehicles over the month at home and abroad.
The data comes from Rho Motion, which said that the May sales figures also represented a more modest monthly increase of 8%.
Over the first five months of the year, global EV sales topped 7 million with China seeing sales of 4.4 million over the period. Chinese sales were supported by the authorities extending the vehicle trade-in policy scheme into 2025 to boost consumer consumption and spending and help economic growth.
“The story this month with global vehicle sales is the continued chasm between Chinese market growth which saw one million vehicles sold in May, versus the faltering market in N. America,” data manager Charles Lester said.
Lester added that EV and hybrid sales in Europe were “healthy”, noting the role that government support plays in the growth of EV adoption in the region.
The EV industry had a difficult year in 2024 as key governments tries to phase out subsidies and let sales be driven by the market. They soon found out this was not happening and reinstated the incentives to keep people buying electric vehicles, reversing the sales decline.
Challenges remain, however, as EV makers outside China still struggle to put their electric cars on an economic par with internal combustion engine vehicles despite progress in bringing down costs.
In the United States things are very different than they are in Europe, with the Trump administration axing incentives, leaving carmakers to fend for themselves. The first reactions are already in: GM said this week it will invest $4 billion in expanding its ICE car production in a departure from previously announced plans to go all-electric by 2035.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
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