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Rho Motion: global EV sales hit record 17.1M units in 2024, driven by China

Electric vehicle (EV) research house Rho Motion announced that following the fourth successive global monthly record of passenger car and light-duty EV (battery-electric and plug-in hybrid) sales, 17.1 million units were sold world-wide in all of 2024, up 25% compared to 2023. December 2024 resulted in more than 1.9 million EV units sold, growing by the previous month’s record by 5%, and all major regions grew monthly and yearly in December 2024.

The European market ended the year down -3% compared to 2023, as the EU & EEA market enters a testing year in 2025 due to emission standards coming into effect. The US and Canada market grew by 9% in 2024. In China, EV sales have grown by 40% in 2024 compared to 2023, with another monthly record for EV sales reached in December 2024 with more than 1.3 million units sold.

Snapshot electric vehicle sales in 2024 vs 2023:

  • Global: 17.1 million, +25%

  • China: 11 million, +40%

  • EU & EFTA & UK: 3.0 million, -3%

  • USA & Canada: 1.8 million, +9%

  • Rest of World: 1.3 million, +27%

What is clear is that Government carrots and sticks are working. In N. America, the 9% growth can mostly be attributed to consumer subsidies and over in the UK, the ZEV mandate has highly incentivized 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.

—Rho Motion Data Manager, Charles Lester

Monthly EV sales (4)

The EU & EFTA & UK market finished 2024 down by 3% after selling over 300,000 EV units in December 2024. Despite being down overall in 2024, the European market increased by 12% month-on-month and by 1% year-on-year. The UK market had the most battery electric vehicle (BEV) sales with more than 400,000 units sold, surpassing Germany’s YTD sales towards the end of the year. The German EV market was down in 2024 vs 2023 following the removal of subsides at the end of 2023, ultimately having a negative impact on sales. However, the UK EV market was up by almost 20%, bolstered by the ZEV mandate. Norway continues to have the highest penetration rate in the world and reached over 90% passenger car and light-duty EV sales monthly penetration towards the end of 2024.

The Chinese market grew by 2% month-on-month in December 2024 and by 36% year-on-year. Overall, this resulted in 40% growth in 2024. A huge part of growth in China came from PHEVs in 2024, with 81% growth, compared to BEV growth of 19%. The rise in demand for range-extender electric vehicles (REEVs) has played a significant role in the growth of PHEVs in China, a technology that has yet to come to Western markets in mass. The Chinese market benefited from its car trade-in scheme, which it doubled in July 2024, and has been extended for 2025.

BYD’s sales kept growing throughout the year, with the major manufacturer easily selling the most EVs in China in 2024 as just over one-third of new EVs sold are BYD models. BYD has more than 40 unique models in China across four EV brands. BYD is also planning to start production at its facility in Hungary in 2025, as it looks to gain market share in the European EV market, following the blow of EU BEV tariffs.

The US & Canada market ended the year on a high with record EV sales in December 2024 of more than 185,000 units sold. The North American market has consistently grown by ~10% throughout the year and finishes with a total of 1.8 million units sold in 2024.

According to Rho Motion, the EV market in the US will be tested in 2025, with the threat of the EPA emission standards or EV tax credit potentially being reversed, both of which are essential drivers of EV adoption in the US. Despite this risk to EV adoption in the US, there are still many facilities being built across the supply chain for EVs and EV batteries, with some being funded from the US Department of Energy (DoE), most recently being Rivian’s US$6.6 billion conditional loan from the DoE’s Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing (ATVM) program.

Comments

Bernard

There's a flaw in the phrasing. The text makes it sound like Chinese hybrid sales came at the expense of BEV sales, but the BEV market grew by 19%, so the unnamed loser is the fossil segment.
A quick web search tells me that China sales grew 4.5% in 2024. With BEV growing 19% and taking-up around 1/3 of the market, that means BEV growth accounted for all of the market expansion (and more), and that fossil sales are in freefall.

Bernard

Other than that comment, things are following the expected trends.
BEVs are still taking double-digit bites out of the total market in the US
EU numbers back to where they were last year in spite of the German experiment. As most here know, German EV subsidies were stopped early in the year, which led to a lot of anticipated purchases and depressed mid-year numbers. That blip has been processed, and German EV sales are back up, without subsidies.

yoatmon

There are divers reasons why an ICE vehicle is cheaper than an EV. The margin of profit on a new ICE is lower than that of an EV due to the high profits made on preventive and corrective maintenance and expensive spare parts for the average 10 years of life following the initial sale.
An EV has no clutch, complex transmission, fuel injection, airflow meter, starter, generator, spark plugs, ignition coil, and expensive exhaust system including a catalyzer.
The production line for conventional ICEs has been established for a long time; for an EV, this involves changes and subsequent additional expenses.
All those parts mentioned afore are prone to failure assuring high MOPs.
An EV, in comparison, is virtually maintenance free. I suspect strongly, that those margins that accumulate over the average life of an ICE are slapped unto the initial selling price of an EV to ensure that the overall MOP remains unaffected.

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