JAKARTA – Global electric vehicle (EV) registrations fell in February, driven by a sharp drop in China. It was the biggest decline since the start of the COVID‑19 pandemic in 2020. Data from Benchmark Mineral Intelligence (BMI) shows that global EV registrations were down 11 percent year on year.

The fall comes as several governments scale back policies that have supported EV purchases. In China, funding for vehicle trade‑in schemes has ended, and tax exemptions for EV buyers expired at the end of last year.

Reuters reports that China, the world’s largest EV market, saw a 32 percent year‑on‑year drop in February in registrations of battery‑electric and plug‑in hybrid cars, falling to under 500,000 units, according to BMI.

This matches data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, which recorded a 34 percent fall in overall car sales during the same period.

“Consumers are very price sensitive,” said Charles Lester, BMI’s data manager. Globally, EV registrations fell for the second month in a row in February to just over one million units, the lowest level since February 2024.

In North America, the EV market shrank 35 percent to below 90,000 units. The decline has continued for five months following the end of the US EV tax credit last September and the Trump administration’s plan to weaken CO₂ emissions standards.

These policy changes, combined with slowing global EV demand, have led several carmakers with large exposure to the US market to record asset write‑downs of more than US$70 billion.

In Europe, some countries have begun easing emissions targets. Even so, EV sales in the region still rose 21 percent in February, although growth was slower than for most of last year.

In other regions, EV registrations jumped 78 percent to more than 180,000 units. The rise is linked to Chinese carmakers expanding into markets in Asia, Australia and Europe as competition intensifies at home. (DH/LM)