Global EV sales down 11% to just over 1 million in February

Global EV registrations fell 11% in February, dragged by ‌China's largest sales drop since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, data by consultancy Benchmark Mineral Intelligence (BMI) showed on Friday.

As governments worldwide hit the brakes on policies designed ​to encourage purchases of electric cars, China has pulled funding for auto trade-ins, while ​a tax exemption on EV purchases in the country expired ⁠at the end of last year.

China, the world's largest EV market, recorded in ​February a 32% year-on-year drop in new battery-electric and plug-in hybrid car registrations, a ​proxy for sales, to less than 500,000 vehicles, BMI said.

That is in line with a 34% drop in overall car sales in the month recorded by the China Association of Automobile ​Manufacturers.

"Consumers are very price sensitive", BMI data manager Charles Lester said.

Worldwide, registrations fell ​for a second month in February to just over one million cars sold, their lowest since ‌the ⁠same month of 2024.

The North American market contracted by 35% to under 90,000 EVs sold, falling for a fifth consecutive month after the end of an EV tax credit scheme in the United States last September and proposals by President Donald ​Trump's administration to further ​cut Co2 emission ⁠standards.

Trump's policies and cooling global demand for electric cars have forced some of the carmakers with the largest exposure to ​the U.S. market to book over $70 billion in writedowns.

Europe has also ​backtracked on ⁠emission targets. The continent's EV sales however rose by 21% in February, maintaining growth despite a slowing pace compared to most of last year.

EV registrations in the rest ⁠of ​the world grew by 78% to over 180,000 ​cars, as Chinese carmakers continued to expand their presence in Asian markets and Australia, as well as ​Europe, while fending off fierce competition domestically.