By the end of 2025, 85 million electric vehicles (EVs) – cars, buses, vans and heavy trucks – are expected to be on the road, according to the latest forecast by Gartner, Inc.

“Despite several hurdles affecting the EV market over the past few months, we are projecting the number of EVs in use globally to total 64 million units in 2024 and increase 33% in 2025,” said Jonathan Davenport, Sr Director Analyst at Gartner. “Many companies overestimated how quickly the switch to EVs would occur. This caused those companies to delay launching new EV models. The growth in 2025 will be driven primarily by higher EV sales in China (58%) and Europe (24%), which together are projected to represent 82% of total EVs in use worldwide.”

Globally, battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in use are forecast to total almost 62 million units by the end of 2025, an increase of 35% from 2024. Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) are expected to grow at a slightly slower rate and reach an installed base of 23 million units in 2025, up 28% from 2024 (see Table 1).

Table 1. Electric Vehicle Installed Base by Vehicle Type, Worldwide, 2023-2025 (Single Units)

		2023 Installed Base		2024 Installed Base		2025 Installed Base
BEV		32,628,884		45,872,824		61,860,183
PHEV		13,402,907		18,159,560		23,283,006
Total		46,031,791		64,032,383		85,143,189

Source: Gartner (October 2024)

Regionally, the ownership of EVs in China is projected to continue to dwarf the rest of the world’s combined installed base through 2025 and likely the next decade. Demand for EVs will steadily grow in Europe and North America, which is projected to account for 36% of global EVs in 2024. By 2025, Gartner estimates 49 million EVs will be on the road in China, compared to 20.6 million EVs in Europe and 10.4 million EVs in North America.

In India, 500,000 EVs are expected to be on the road by the end 2025. BEVs in use are expected to total 370,000 units, while 129,500 PHEVs are forecast to be on the road by the end of 2025 (see Table 2). 

Table 2. Electric Vehicle Installed Base by Vehicle Type in India, 2023-2025 (Single Units)

		2023 Installed Base		2024 Installed Base		2025 Installed Base
BEV		152,944		242,439		370,043
PHEV		57,988		89,362		129,459
Total		210,932		331,801		499,502

Source: Gartner (October 2024)

The number of EVs on the road in India will achieve a high growth, increasing 51% in 2025. “Economic incentives like the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME) scheme are making EVs more affordable than petrol or diesel cars,” said Davenport. “Indian customers are increasingly willing to make procurement decisions that will result in improving air quality levels.”

By 2030, Automakers Will Enable the Recycling of 95% of Batteries from EVs to Mitigate the Risk from Raw Material Shortage

With EV sales expected to rise year-over-year, a shortage of raw materials will not be easy to resolve. “A robust recycling effort to take advantage of materials in spent batteries and scrap from the manufacturing production process, which, together with EU efforts to mandate battery recycling, could reduce the need for more mineral excavation,” said Davenport.

“Because concentrations of rare metals in batteries are higher than in natural ores, spent batteries can be seen as highly enriched ore,” said Davenport. “If recovered at large scale, the spent batteries could support the overall commercial viability of EVs by bringing battery prices down. There would be the additional benefit of batteries not ending up being disposed of in unethical manners or put into landfill sites.”