It’s no secret that the growth of the EV sector cooled through the first few months of the year, but according to market research firm Rho Motion, they have rebounded strongly, and alongside PHEVs, sales jumped by 21% in July compared to the same month a year prior.
The data reveals that 1.4 million EVs and PHEVs were sold around the world last month. Of these, roughly 880,000 were sold in China, which was a significant 31% jump year-on-year. Demand for PHEVs skyrocketed across China in July, soaring by 70% from last year.
It’s not just in China where sales have increased. Sales of EVs grew by 7.1% in July across the United States and Canada, Reuters reports. Things weren’t so pretty in Europe, where sales fell 7.8% in July. The drop-off has been particularly significant in Germany, down 12% across the January-July period.
“The EV market has definitely been a mixed bag so far this year,” Rho Motion data manager Charles Lester said. ”Globally sales have been strong and are continuing to flourish in China, N. America and fledgling EV markets. However, EU’s sales are stalling, especially in Germany and EU tariffs on Chinese EVs are likely to impact this even further. Despite the region’s woes, France and the UK are weathering the storm and have grown their domestic markets. We would expect to see these trends play out over the rest of the year unless drastic measures are put into place.”
One of the biggest beneficiaries of a rebound in demand for EVs and PHEVs was BYD. It reported a sales increase of 13% for its battery-electric vehicles and 44% for its PHEVs. “BYD continued to have record sales of plug-in hybrids again this month, which is a key contributor as they have a large volume of vehicles that they sell,” Lester noted.