EVs went from 4% to 20% of global car sales in just five years.
BYD outsold all of Europe
China took 60% of the global total, with EV share hitting 38% and exceeding 45% in some months. BYD alone sold more EVs than the entire European market. The average EV price in China dropped below $25,000 — less than half the US average. That price gap is the single most important variable in global trade policy right now.
BYD sold more electric cars than all of Europe combined. One company.
Europe's share held flat at 22% versus 2024. Germany, France, and the UK cut subsidies and sales followed. EU tariffs on Chinese EVs raised consumer prices without spurring local manufacturing — achieving the worst of both outcomes.
The average American EV costs $52,000. The average Chinese EV costs $25,000. That gap explains a lot.
The US reached 9% market share, up from 7.6% in 2024. The Inflation Reduction Act is funding domestic battery plants in Georgia, Tennessee, and Michigan. The infrastructure is coming; the affordability isn't.
Africa's entry point isn't a car
Most of Africa sits below 1% EV adoption — structural barriers of limited charging, high prices, and established ICE used-car imports from Europe and Japan keep passenger EVs out of reach. Kenya's electric two-wheeler market is the real story. Two-wheelers serve last-mile transport for hundreds of millions of people across the continent, and the economics are already competitive. That, not passenger cars, is where African EV adoption actually begins.