Global EV market in 2026: What has changed so far?
2026 so far has seen some interesting developments across the electric vehicle market. Over the first half, although the general regional balance between the largest markets has remained the same, with China leading, Europe following, and the USA remaining in third place, some different dynamics have developed here and there.
H1 2026 year-on-year EV sales by powertrain
The first relevant fact, as highlighted in the chart, is China's slowdown compared to the same period the previous year, along with an even steeper slowdown in the USA, all while Europe's EV sales instead grow by over 30%.
Some of the key reasons for the slowdown in China are:
The introduction of purchase tax and lower EV subsidies in 2026.
Subsidy-driven buying that itself accelerated vehicle replacement, now leaves softer demand.
More cautious household spending and a more mature car market limit growth after years of rapid expansion.
Europe’s EV growth drivers can be briefly summarized as below:
A wider and fast-growing choice of more affordable EVs is making electric ownership accessible to more buyers.
EU CO₂ requirements pushing manufacturers to expand their electric line-ups and increase EV sales.
The return of EV subsidy schemes in several major European markets.
In the USA, the sharp EV sales contraction reflects a few important factors:
Federal EV purchase and leasing credits expired in September 2025, reducing the financial incentive to choose an EV.
Buyers rushed to secure the credits before expiry, bringing demand into 2025 and contributing to weaker sales later on.
It is important to note that while the slowdown in the Chinese EV segment is reflected also in the domestic market, in Europe, the over 30% EV growth surpasses the overall market growth that registered only +6%. In the US the data is EV-specific as well, but negative. The 25% decline in EV sales, in fact, exceeds significantly the overall contraction of the automotive market, which is only around 2.7% year-on-year.
Product maturity and ownership experience
As established by the HERE-SBD EV Index 2026, currently, the two most important barriers to EV adoption are the limited availability of charging stations and the driving range considered too short. Although the situation is improving, these still remain the two most important factors, followed by other charging-related characteristics and ownership-experience factors related as well to battery life and charging.
Two solutions that OEMs are adopting to reduce these potential barriers when it comes to the vehicle itself are improving charging speed and increasing battery size.
Charging speed remains a key factor in the EV ownership experience especially when comparing with ICE refueling times. In the first half of the year, it continues its gradual improvement trend across all the major EV markets. Looking at the average 20-80% DC charging time, the USA comes first, followed by Europe and then China. However, data is quite heavily influenced by the size of the markets themselves. The key highlighted in the chart is the continued and stable improvement across the three regions.
Estimated average 20–80% BEV DC charging time by Region
Going more in-depth, as expected, China has the lead in the improvement to reach charging-time parity with refueling. Despite the higher average 20-80% DC charging time, driven by the significantly larger pool of EV models that include less advanced and more basic affordable ones, China is currently the only country where some models reach this target in less than 10 minutes. It is also by far the one with the most models (65 so far) reaching the same state of charge in a time between 10 and 15 minutes, where Europe has only 23 and the USA 10.
Looking at battery sizes, instead, shows an overall market progression, but also some more interesting differences that are not just region-based, but also substantial between premium and volume segments.
The graph on the right below shows the premium segment average battery size in all three regions between the first half of 2024 and the first half of 2026. Battery sizes are already well over 80 kWh, and after an improvement in 2025, over the past year, sizes have remained mostly stable, indicating an overall segment maturity.
Regional passenger BEV battery capacity by year: volume and premium brands
Over the same period, instead, there is a clear progression in the volume segment. The graph on the left also highlights substantial regional differences. The USA market especially, despite the smaller overall EV choice, has on average significantly larger batteries, with those in the volume segment almost equaling the premium ones. In Europe and China, instead, volume segment battery sizes are much smaller than their premium counterparts. This, in the case of China which especially in major cities nears saturation, likely indicates OEMs’ deliberate strategic choices to target different segments. Smaller vehicles are aimed only at urban traffic, thus not needing large batteries. In Europe, the growing but still limited average battery size in the volume segment likely indicates a developing market maturity, but similar to China, also a trend in affordable BEV development.
In 2026 so far, in fact, Europe is not only the single major market, among the covered ones, where electric vehicles have grown substantially, but also the one where the focus has markedly shifted from one segment to another.
Number of EV models (production and announced) and average price by segment (H1 2025-H1 2026)
The graph shows how, in one year, all segments have grown, except for F and A. But the one that has grown the most is the C segment, which for the first time also becomes the largest BEV segment in Europe increasing by 34% to 234 models. Average price also decreases slightly from €50,000 to €49,000. B-Segment vehicles follow, as while smaller is the fastest growing with +48% reaching 89 models with the average price decreasing from €41,000 to €39,000. The remaining segments remain more stable.
Overall, this chart highlights a specific change of direction in the European BEV market. Where up until now the E-segment, mostly composed of premium vehicles, had been the main focus in the BEV space, the trend has now changed in favor of more affordable, compact family cars. And this direction corresponds to the substantial sales growth in the region that is expected to continue, boosting the BEV sales as the competition increases with new, more mature and affordable options.
The article looks specifically at sales and more high-level BEV models' characteristics, but naturally several other factors contribute to determine the actual EV market maturity or development speed. Two key drivers are BEV battery technologies and chemistry, and charging infrastructure (for Europe or USA) that are investigated in the linked report.
"The latest developments in the EV market highlight how much each region is going through a very different phase. The current answer for international brands seems to be even more aggressive product localization, and as proven by some in 2026, that might still not be enough. The solution might lie into a deeper connection with regional consumers’ culture, needs and preferences." Riccardo Del Bello, SBD Automotive Research Analyst |  |
This overview is part of a larger research and analysis covering all the three major markets conducted for SBD's 623 EV Guide report. Make sure to check the link below to know more:
