Tesla and BYD Ride Global EV Boom — Five Countries See Growth More Than Double as Gas Prices Spike

Chris Katje

Sun, August 2, 2026 at 3:30 PM GMT+3 5 min read

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Rising gas prices has helped electric vehicle sales in the United States and globally. New data shows just how much demand there is for electric vehicles, especially outside the U.S.

Global EV Sales Soar

Global electric vehicle sales were up 35% in the second quarter, compared to the first quarter, according to newly released data from the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Data, shared by Electrek, shows that EV sales dominated in the second quarter while overall global car sales were down 5% year-over-year in the first half of the year.

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The surge in demand for electric vehicles, both battery-powered and plug-in hybrids, came as the price of gas rose in many markets around the world due to heightened military action in the Middle East.

The IEA report says U.S. demand for electric vehicles was down and China growth was also lower than expected. Despite these two key markets being weak, the IEA raised its full-year expectation for EVs to hit 29% of all global vehicle sales, up from a 28% forecast months ago.

The EV Winners

The IEA report highlighted five countries that saw electric vehicle sales more than double year-over-year in the second quarter.

That list is Australia, Brazil, India, Korea, and Vietnam.

In Australia, Tesla Inc and BYD are the top two players with Tesla having the bestselling vehicle and BYD being the top selling EV brand.

BYD also is the dominant EV company in Brazil, a country where Tesla currently doesn't operate.

For India, the EV market is dominated by local players like Tata Motors.

In South Korea, the Tesla Model Y is the dominant EV. The vehicle is so popular that it became the first imported vehicle to top the monthly bestseller list in the county for May.

In Vietnam, its local player VinFast Auto that is the top player.

Across the five high-growth countries, Tesla and BYD are the big winners. The two global EV leaders are likely the winners in many other territories seeing EV growth.

The IEA reported that 50 countries hit records in the second quarter for electric vehicles.

For Tesla, the global growth comes as the company was seeing lower sales in the United States until higher gas prices led to a spike. The question now is if the global growth was also due mainly to higher gas prices or if it is a sign of strong demand.

BYD has expanded into new territories aggressively and brings low-cost models to many of its new regions. Given the IEA report, it's not a huge surprise that countries with BYD vehicles are seeing huge growth.

Photos: Shutterstock

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