A new International Energy Agency (IEA) analysis points to a strong second-quarter recovery in electric vehicle (EV) sales globally, as the energy crisis sparked by the war in the Middle East brought fuel price volatility back into focus.
The second-quarter rebound was not fully able to offset weak demand in the key Chinese and US markets during the first quarter, however.
Global electric car sales during the first half of the year were, thus, about 1% lower than in the same period of 2025; a relatively resilient performance amid a 5% fall in overall global car sales from January to the end of June.
“Despite more than 90 countries seeing higher year-on-year sales, the almost 20% drop in electric car sales in China strongly impacted global sales volumes,” the report states.
South Africa was among the markets listed, with EV sales growing fivefold in the first half of the year, as African sales doubled to over 300 000.
