Global EV registrations grew 20% last year but are likely to lose pace in 2026, data showed on Wednesday, as a slowdown in China and a relaxation of electrification targets worldwide led in December to the smallest sales increase since February 2024.
Monthly registrations of electric vehicles, including battery electric and plug-in hybrids, dropped further in North America after the end in October of an EV tax credit scheme in the United States, consultancy Benchmark Mineral Intelligence (BMI) said.
Radical policy shifts, including U.S. President Donald Trump’s U-turn on electrification and a relaxation of emission standards in the European Union, shook the global EV market in 2025 into a “virtually unrecognisable landscape”, according to BMI data manager Charles Lester.
Rising competition in Europe and cooling demand in China are likely to intensify the debate between electrification proponents who emphasise the need to curb planet-warming CO2 emissions, and carmakers who say a quick transition threatens jobs and profit.
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