World EV fleet passes 74 million, ZSW data shows

Global electric vehicle registrations hit 21.4 million in 2025, up 23% year on year, lifting the worldwide EV fleet to 74.3 million by year-end, according to Germany’s Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research (ZSW). China took around two-thirds of those sales with 14 million registrations, and roughly half of all new cars sold there last year were electric.

China accounts for around 60% of the global fleet at 44 million vehicles, ahead of the United States on 7.1 million and Germany on 3.2 million. EU registrations climbed to about three million in 2025, regaining second place behind China after a flat 2024.

Germany’s market grew 50% to 856,500 new EVs, helped by lower prices and a wider model range. Norway leads on penetration, with EVs taking 97% of new sales and one in three vehicles in the total fleet.

BYD topped the 2025 manufacturer ranking on 4.5 million sales, with Geely (which owns Volvo) jumping to 1.8 million and displacing Tesla on 1.7 million. Volkswagen sold 1.4 million (+39%) and BMW around 650,000. Eight of the global top-ten EV models came from Chinese OEMs, with the Geely EX2 fifth on 479,000.

ZSW project manager Andreas Püttner said countries with high EV shares are more resilient to fossil fuel price shocks, and called for binding CO2 fleet limits on company cars in Germany and the EU. ZSW figures cover BEVs, plug-in hybrids and range-extenders, with BEVs at around 70% of 2025 new sales.

Source: ZSW