According to the IEA's report "Electric Car Markets in a Time of Uncertainty," published July 30, 2026, global EV sales in Q2 2026 rose 4% year-on-year and 35% quarter-on-quarter versus Q1. Global sales in H1 2026 topped 9 million, with more than 5 million sold in Q2 alone. Even as the overall global car market struggled, EV sales grew in more than 90 countries compared with H1 2025.
Full-year share expected at 29%, driven by emerging markets
The IEA expects global EV sales to reach 29% of total car sales in 2026. In Australia, Brazil, India, Korea, and Vietnam — all EV markets with H1 sales above 100,000 units — sales roughly doubled in the period since the start of the energy crisis (compared to March-June 2025). Smaller markets surged even further: Colombia (+300%), New Zealand (+180%), Singapore (+110%), and Uruguay (+170%). By region, Latin America more than doubled in H1 (up about 130% in the March-June period alone); Australia, Korea, and New Zealand also doubled year-on-year in H1; India's H1 sales rose more than 90%; Southeast Asia's H1 sales rose 75%; and Africa's sales more than doubled to over 30,000, with South Africa growing more than fivefold and Egypt more than threefold.
Europe's H1 sales also rose 30% year-on-year, the strongest growth among major EV markets.
US falls short of last year as a tax credit lapses; China's exports mask a domestic slump
US EV sales exceeded 275,000 in Q2, up 20% quarter-on-quarter, but were down about 25% versus Q2 2025. The cause: the federal EV tax credit, which ended at the close of Q3 2025. The 2026 sales share is averaging 7%, below the 2025 full-year average of 10%.
China's overall car market shrank more than 20% year-on-year in H1, even as its EV sales share is expected to reach more than 60% for full-year 2026 (EV sales volumes themselves are expected to stay roughly flat versus 2025). Chinese manufacturers are partly offsetting the domestic slump with export growth, but exports are growing faster than overseas sales of those vehicles — over the last 18 months, more than 1 million Chinese EV exports have not yet been registered as sales in destination countries. The IEA notes the scale is too large to be explained by shipping times alone, pointing to above-norm inventory build-ups in some destination markets.
The Q2 2026 global EV market, per IEA data
01
Sharp rebound, wider geography
Q2 up 35% quarter-on-quarter. H1 growth in over 90 countries; full-year share expected at 29%.
02
Emerging markets surge
Australia, Brazil, India, Korea, and Vietnam roughly doubled. Smaller markets like Colombia (+300%) surged further.
03
US hit by tax credit lapse
Q2 down 25% year-on-year, driven by the federal tax credit's end in Q3 2025.
04
China's exported inventory overhang
Domestic market down over 20%, but EV share heading past 60%. Unaccounted export inventory is growing.
For procurement and investment decisions, "EVs are slowing down" is too simple a framing. Markets diverge sharply — the US hit by policy change, China carrying excess export inventory, and emerging markets sustaining rapid growth on policy support — and each needs to be assessed on its own terms.
