According to the headlines, Electric vehicles (EVs) have had a volatile year. Subsidies are being debated, tariffs are under review and growth rates have started to lose their shine. For some commentators, this has been seen as evidence that the EV transition is losing its momentum.
When the data is examined more closely, however, it becomes clear that what’s being interpreted as a slowdown is in fact a gear shift into a new phase of the transition.
EVs are no longer an emerging technology; they have become a structural part of the global automotive market. The shift away from traditional internal combustion engine vehicles has been underway for years, with global internal combustion engine car sales peaking in 2017 and declining steadily ever since. This trend has accelerated following the pandemic, with every unit of growth in the global car market coming from EVs.
Electric vehicles, including battery electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, also accounted for more than a quarter of all new global car sales in the first 10 months of 2025. For a technology that previously represented a small share of the market little more than a decade ago, this marks an extraordinary transformation.
Early stages of technological change typically show rapid growth, as adoption begins from a very low base and expands quickly. As these technologies mature and move into the mainstream, however, growth rates tend to stabilise, becoming steadier and more predictable over time.
That should not be mistaken for a reversal of the trend, it is a clear indicator that the transition is becoming embedded within the structure of the global economy.
Europe: Momentum despite political noise
This dynamic is clearly visible within the European market. Despite increasing political pushback and calls to delay the European Union’s planned 2035 phase-out of internal combustion engine vehicles, EV adoption across the region continues to expand, with overall sales still rising year-on-year, even as growth varies across individual markets.
This highlights the resilience of underlying demand, even against a more uncertain policy backdrop.
At the same time, the infrastructure supporting electrified transport is scaling rapidly. According to the International Energy Agency, Europe now has more than 1 million public EV charging points, reflecting a significant acceleration in charging network deployment.
This infrastructure build-out is critical, as the transition moves beyond adoption and towards system-level integration. As EV penetration rises, the focus shifts from proving the viability of the technology to ensuring the systems required to support it are in place at scale.
Global trends: Expansion beyond early adopters
The EV transition extends well beyond Europe. China remains the world’s largest electric vehicle market and continues to drive much of the sector’s manufacturing scale and technological development.
At the same time, adoption is accelerating across a growing number of emerging economies, broadening the geographic footprint of electrified transport.
In many cases, countries are effectively leapfrogging older vehicle technologies, adopting EVs more quickly. Falling technology costs are one of the key forces behind this shift, with battery prices declining dramatically over the past decade and bringing electric vehicles steadily closer to cost parity with conventional vehicles.
However, decreasing the reliance on imported fossil fuels is also a key driver for many nations, supporting energy resilience and security. This growth is being reinforced by wider economic shifts, with more than 90% of the global economy now decoupling economic growth from emissions growth.
Research also suggests that EV adoption may be approaching a positive tipping point, where falling costs and expanding infrastructure accelerate uptake further.
Together, these dynamics point to a transition that is not slowing, but accelerating - both geographically and across different stages of economic development.
What this means for investors
For investors, this marks a shift from early-stage growth to a more mature phase of the transition. In its early years, the EV story was largely centred on vehicle manufacturers.
Today, the opportunities are far broader, as electrification moves beyond the vehicle itself and into the systems that enable it.
As adoption scales, value is increasingly shifting towards the underlying technologies and infrastructure that support electrified transport. This includes battery supply chains, power semiconductors, connectors, charging infrastructure and grid upgrades – all of which are becoming critical components of the new automotive ecosystem.
These areas are where capital is increasingly being deployed, reflecting their central role in enabling long-term electrification.
This transition will not follow a straight path. Policy changes, trade tensions and supply-chain pressures will continue to create periods of volatility. But these short-term fluctuations should not obscure the structural direction of travel.
The global car industry has already crossed an important threshold. Electric vehicles are no longer a future prospect, they are a growing and increasingly dominant part of today’s market.
The real question for investors is no longer whether the transition will happen, but where the most compelling opportunities lie as it scales.
Anna Elliott is a sustainability analyst at Foresight Group. The views expressed above should not be taken as investment advice.