Australia Lags While Electric Vehicle Sales Soar Globally

New data has revealed global electric vehicle (EV) sales have increased by almost 30 per cent in the first four months of 2025.

The report, released by EV research firm Rho Motion, claims sales of battery-powered cars increased by 29 per cent between January and April, compared with the same time last year.

A total of 5.6 million EVs were sold globally over the four-month period, with China accounting for 3.3 million – or almost 60 per cent – of all sales.

China was ahead of the trend, recording a sales increase of 35 per cent year-on-year.

Electric-car sales increased by 25 per cent in Europe, with 1.2 million vehicles sold – or 21.5 per cent of the total.

North America fell far behind the global average, recording an increase in EV sales of just 5 per cent, while the rest of the world combined saw deliveries increase by 37 per cent compared with the same time in 2024.

However, despite the overall global growth, numbers show demand for electric cars dropped noticeably in January and February, before recovering in March and April.

Meanwhile, Australia has only recorded 23,911 sales of EVs – including passenger cars, SUVs, and light commercial vehicles – between January and April 2025, compared with 31,662 sales for the same timeframe last year. However, it's worth noting some new brands to the Australian market have not begun sharing their EV sales.

Year-on-year, it represents a 24.5 per cent drop in EV purchases, in stark contrast to the 29 per cent increase globally.

Editor's Note: An earlier version of this story mistakenly quoted inaccurate EV sales numbers for Australia. The story has been updated with the correct figures publicly available. We apologise for the error.