High EV Adoption in China Despite Performance Trade-Offs

The electric vehicle transition is taking place at different rates around the world. According to an analysis from market research and data analysis company JATO, China is leading the battery electric vehicle (BEV) market, having accounted for 57 percent of all BEV registrations worldwide in Q1 2025. It is followed by Enlarged Europe (which here includes the EU, the UK, Norway and Switzerland) at 22 percent and the United States at 12 percent. All other countries combined accounted for 9 percent of global BEV registrations, including India (1.7 percent), South Korea (1.2 percent) and Turkey (1.1 percent). According to JATO, these regional differences are largely a result of differing pricing and battery strategies.

China has opted for the approach of mass producing lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries. These powered nearly 75 percent of all BEVs in the country in 2024. While cheaper to produce, LFP batteries tend to have challenges with energy density, meaning they often have shorter ranges. By contrast, the U.S. and Europe have chosen to focus on longer driving ranges with more efficient batteries.

While all three markets have seen improvements in their charging times, the United States and Germany have a higher share of registered BEVs that achieve best charging times of under one hour, while in China the average is 1.2 hours.