Top Selling Electric Vehicles in the World — January 2026 - CleanTechnica

In January 2026, global plugin electric vehicle (EV) registrations declined by 6% year-over-year (YoY) to nearly 1.2 million units, with battery electric vehicles (BEVs) down 4% and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) down 8%. This rare simultaneous drop is largely attributed to the expiration of key incentives in the U.S. (October 2025) and China (end of 2025), the world’s first and third largest EV markets. However, excluding these two countries, global EV sales actually surged 36% YoY, driven by strong growth in emerging markets, particularly in Asia (India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea) and other countries like Azerbaijan, Belarus, Poland, and Uruguay. Overall, plugin vehicles captured an 18% share of the global auto market in January, with BEVs accounting for 12%. Chinese EV manufacturers are increasingly focusing on exports to offset thin domestic margins, leading