After releasing its results for the first nine months of the year, Volkswagen’s CFO said EV orders are down 50% in Europe. VW’s order intake fell short, attributed to a slowdown in the overall market.
The Volkswagen Group announced Thursday that EV deliveries increased by 45% YOY, reaching 531,500 in the first nine months of the year.
VW’s EV sales share stood at 9% in the third quarter for a total of 7.9% through September. The company said it remains on track to hit its (previously lowered) annual target of 8-10%.
Europe was Volkswagen’s biggest EV market, accounting for over 341,000 electric models (+61%) sold through September. China, the automaker’s biggest market in terms of profits, was next with 117,100 models sold (+4%). EV deliveries in the US rose 74% to 50,300.
Meanwhile, Volkswagen CFO and COO Arno Antlitz explained on a media call that EV orders in Europe are down to 150,000. That’s 50% lower than last year’s total of 300,000.
Europe accounts for over 64% of Volkswagen’s EV deliveries so far this year. Although deliveries grew slightly in China, Antlitz said the company could lose EV market share until new models built with XPeng begin rolling out.
(Source: Volkswagen)
Volkswagen EV orders fall in Europe
Despite EV orders falling significantly from last year in Europe, Volkswagen began seeing intake pick up in the third quarter.
Antiliz said although order intake was below targets, delivery momentum was expected to continue. He attributed the lower demand to the overall market trend.
Hildegard Wortmann, who oversees VW’s marketing and sales, explained earlier this month, “Our order intake is below our ambitious targets due to the lower-than-expected overall market trend.”
(Source: Volkswagen Group)
The VW spokesperson attributed the third-quarter growth to a high backlog waiting to be processed. He said that supply chain and logistics kinks are being smoothed out, leading to shortened delivery times.
Volkswagen lowered guidance earlier this year from 11% EV sales share to 8-10%. The automaker’s struggles led to production cuts in Germany last month over slowing demand.
Volkswagen ID.4 Pro (Source: VW)
The company hopes the “refreshed” ID.4 and ID.5, VW’s top-selling EVs, will help turn things around. The new models come with a new electric drive and battery, providing more range in addition to a modern infotainment.
Volkswagen ID.7 (Source: VW)
Volkswagen also launched its flagship ID.7, which has been available to order for weeks now. The new electric sedan starts at around $62,000 (€56,995) with up to 385 miles (621 km) WLTC range.
Electrek’s Take
Several automakers, including Ford and GM, recently announced they would be delaying key parts of their EV rollouts.
GM is delaying Equinox, Silverado RST, and GMC Sierra EV production to “protect pricing.” Meanwhile, Ford is pushing back its 600,000 EV run rate goal until next year. The moves come amid higher interest rates globally and lower-than-expected demand for some EV models.
Meanwhile, other automakers, including Hyundai and Volvo, are sticking to their targets. Both automakers expect the EV momentum to continue with new models rolling out across various segments.
Although EV orders are down in Europe, Volkswagen said they began to pick up in the third quarter as new models hit the market.
Although near-term uncertainty is causing some automakers to abandon their EV plans, others are doubling down. Electric vehicles will continue gathering momentum into the end of the decade, and those making the effort now will be the ones reaping the rewards.
As China, the largest EV market globally has shown, the transition can happen quickly, leaving those unprepared behind.
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While much of the Western world is still figuring out how to get more people on electric bikes, China just flipped a switch, and the results are staggering. Thanks to a generous nationwide trade-in program rolled out around six months ago, China has seen an explosive surge in electric bicycle sales, with over 8.47 million new e-bikes hitting the road in the first half of 2025 alone.
The program, which offers subsidies to riders who trade in their old, often outdated electric bikes for newer, safer, and more efficient models, has sparked a new e-bike sale boom in a country already dominated by e-bike travel. In major provinces like Jiangsu, Hebei, and Zhejiang, over one million new e-bikes were sold in each region in just six months. That’s a tidal wave of e-bike sales.
The incentives vary depending on location and the model being traded in, but for many consumers, the subsidies cover a substantial portion of a new e-bike’s price – enough to turn a “maybe next year” purchase into a “right now” upgrade. And these aren’t just budget bikes either. The program has driven demand for higher-quality models with better batteries, safer braking systems, and more reliable electronics, accelerating both adoption and innovation across the industry.
The move has proven successful in replacing the millions of older models with lower-quality lithium-ion batteries that had posed safety risks around the country. Instead, China has pushed for higher-quality lithium-ion batteries, a return to a newer generation of higher-performance AGM batteries, and even interesting new sodium-ion battery options.
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Most e-bikes in China look more like what we’d consider seated scooters
According to China’s Ministry of Commerce, more than 8.4 million consumers have participated in the e-bike trade-in program so far, contributing to a sales increase of 643.5% year-over-year and more than doubling sales month-over-month. Meanwhile, production of new electric bicycles rose by nearly 28%, as manufacturers scrambled to meet demand. The sales boosts have already been seen in the financial reports of major industry players like NIU.
And it’s not just the big players benefiting – over 82,000 small independent e-bike dealers reported average sales increases of ¥302,000 (around US $42,000), giving a serious boost to local economies.
What’s particularly striking here is how fast this happened. The program was officially launched late last year as part of a broader effort to stimulate domestic consumption and phase out outdated vehicles and appliances. But while most analysts expected gradual growth, the e-bike sector responded much more quickly. In less than a year, the trade-in subsidies have reshaped the electric bicycle market, creating a consumer-driven boom that shows no signs of slowing.
For those of us watching from outside China, it’s hard not to wonder what might happen if other countries tried something similar. While most families in Chinese cities already own an electric bike and thus see this as an opportunity to trade it in for a newer model, Western countries like the US are still figuring out how to stimulate commuters into buying their first e-bike.
It’s too soon to know exactly how long the boom will last or whether the momentum will carry into 2026 and beyond. We’ve seen bicycle industry bubbles grow and burst before. But one thing’s clear: with the right incentives, even modest ones, it’s possible to ignite real, large-scale change. China just proved it with nearly 8.5 million new e-bikes to show for it.
And if you’re wondering what it looks like when a country takes electric micromobility seriously, this is it.
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Today was the official start of racing at the Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix 2025! There was a tremendous energy (and heat) on the ground at NCM Motorsports Park as nearly a dozen teams took to the track. Currently, as of writing, Stanford is ranked #1 in the SOV (Single-Occupant Vehicle) class with 68 registered laps. However, the fastest lap so far belongs to UC Berkeley, which clocked a 4:45 on the 3.15-mile track. That’s an average speed of just under 40 mph on nothing but solar energy. Not bad!
In the MOV (Multi-Occupant Vehicle) class, Polytechnique Montréal is narrowly ahead of Appalachian State by just 4 laps. At last year’s formula sun race, Polytechnique Montréal took first place overall in this class, and the team hopes to repeat that success. It’s still too early for prediction though, and anything can happen between now and the final day of racing on Saturday.
Congrats to the teams that made it on track today. We look forward to seeing even more out there tomorrow. In the meantime, here are some shots from today via the event’s wonderful photographer Cora Kennedy.
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The numbers are in and they are all bad for Tesla fans – the company sold just 5,000 Cybertruck models in Q4 of 2025, and built some 30% more “other” vehicles than it delivered. It just gets worse and worse, on today’s tension-building episode of Quick Charge!
We’ve also got day 1 coverage of the 2025 Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix, reports that the Tesla Optimus program is in chaos after its chief engineer jumps ship, and a look ahead at the fresh new Hyundai IONIQ 2 set to bow early next year, thanks to some battery specs from the Kia EV2.
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