The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates electric vehicle (EV) sales – including not only EVs but also plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) and extended-range EVs (EREVs) – will hit 23 million this year, and account for around 28 per cent of all new cars sold.
In a report released this week, the IEA used recent trends and sales data from the first quarter of this year, and forecast EV sales to rise from 20 million last year.
For simplicity's sake in this article, as in the IEA report, we'll use the term 'EV' to refer to pure EVs as well as PHEVs and EREVs, unless otherwise noted.
According to the IEA's numbers, 3.9 million EVs were sold in the first three months of 2026 – down eight per cent from the same time last year. This is primarily due to falling sales in China, the world's largest EV market, and the US.
These falls hide a surge in EV sales in March, with 30 countries breaking EV sales records.
