Global EV sales surged to 1.7 million units in March, hitting 4.1 million for Q1 2025 as the EV market continues its robust growth, according to new data from EV research house Rho Motion. Year-over-year sales jumped 29% and marked an impressive 40% month-over-month leap from February.

Europe saw a solid 22% growth in EV sales year-to-date, driven primarily by battery-electric vehicles (BEVs), which climbed 27%. Germany’s BEV market rose 37%, Italy surged by 64%, and the UK hit a milestone with over 100,000 EVs sold in March alone, a first-time record boosted by new vehicle registrations. France’s EV sales dropped 18%, severely impacted by reduced government subsidies, with BEVs down 5% and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) falling sharply by 47%.

In North America, EV sales increased by 16% in Q1 2025. The market’s outlook remains unclear due to Donald Trump’s recent imposition of substantial tariffs. February’s 25% tariff on auto imports from Canada and Mexico and a broader tariff in March affecting all auto imports are expected to hike consumer prices. With approximately 40% of US EV sales being imported from countries like Japan, Korea, and Mexico, the impact on affordability and market dynamics is likely significant.

China, still the global leader in EV adoption, saw EV sales grow 36% year-over-year in Q1, approaching 1 million units in March alone – a milestone previously reached in August 2024. The US-China tariff crisis will have a minimal impact on China due to the low volume of cross-border EV sales. However, Tesla’s Model X and Model S are exported from the US to China, and the prices for these could nearly double due to tariffs.

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Rho Motion data manager Charles Lester said, “This quarter, while turbulent, has seen a strong rate of growth globally for the EV market. Some countries, such as the UK, had a record-breaking March as drivers continue to go electric.

Meanwhile, in North America, forecasts are struggling to keep up with the rate of policy announcements under the current White House administration. What is sure is that the electric vehicle market is already struggling to compete with ICE on cost, so reductions in subsidies and hefty tariffs for a very international supply chain are guaranteed to have a cooling effect on the industry.”

EV sales in Q1 2025 vs Q1 2024, YTD percentage: 

• Global: 4.1 million, +29% 
• China: 2.4 million, +36% 
• Europe: 0.9 million, +22% 
• North America: 0.5 million, +16% 
• Rest of World: 0.3 million, +27% 

The bottom line: EV sales are up month-over-month, quarter-over-quarter, and year-over-year.

Read more: Contrary to popular belief, EV sales grew more in 2024 than 2023

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Tesla (TSLA) has to replace the ‘self-driving’ computer inside about 4 million vehicles or likely compensate the owners of those vehicles.

The liability could be more significant than the largest automotive recall in terms of cost.

In 2016, Tesla claimed that all its vehicles in production going forward have “all the hardware necessary for full self-driving capability.”

Tesla’s use of the term “full self-driving” has changed over the years, but at the time and for years later, CEO Elon Musk claimed that it would mean Tesla owners would eventually receive a software update that would turn their vehicles into “robotaxis” capable of level-4-5 self-driving, which means unsupervised autonomous driving even with no one in the cars.

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Almost 10 years later, this has yet to happen and won’t happen soon in most of the cars Tesla has delivered over the last decade.

Tesla’s claim that its vehicles have “all the hardware necessary for full self-driving capability” quickly proved untrue.

At the time, Tesla was producing its vehicles with cameras, a front-facing radar, ultrasonic sensors, and a “self-driving” computer, called HW2.5.”

Tesla quickly started building new vehicles with a new “HW3 self-driving computer” and admitted that its HW2.5 computer was not powerful enough to achieve self-driving capability.

The automaker started retrofitting existing HW2.5 vehicles for free with new HW3 computers owned by drivers who bought Tesla’s ‘Full Self-Driving’ (FSD) software package.

In 2023-2024, Tesla transitioned to another new and more powerful “self-driving computer”, HW4, in its new vehicles.

Unlike when it transitioned from HW2.5 to HW3, this time, Tesla claimed it would still be able to deliver its robotaxi self-driving capability to HW3 vehicles.

Musk even claimed that FSD will get better on HW3 first, as Tesla’s “focus needs to be on getting FSD on HW3 working super well and provided internationally”. He went as far as claiming that FSD performance on “HW4 will lag at least 6 months behind HW3” because of this.

That didn’t last long.

In 2024, we started to report that Tesla was reaching the limits of the HW3 computer, while the capabilities were nowhere near the promised unsupervised robotaxi-level autonomous driving.

It took another 6 months, but in January 2025, Musk finally admitted that HW3 computers are not powerful enough to achieve unsupervised self-driving capability.

There are about 4 million Tesla vehicles in the world with HW3 computers:

When admitting the computer won’t support the promised self-driving capabilities, Musk said that Tesla would retrofit the computers of all HW3 car owners who purchased the FSD package:

I mean, I think the honest answer is that we’re going to have to upgrade people’s Hardware 3 computer for those that have bought full self-driving, and that is the honest answer and that’s going to be painful and difficult but we’ll get it done. Now I’m kind of glad that not that many people bought the FSD package.

Musk says that replacing all the computers will be “painful,” and he is “glad” that “not that many people bought the FSD package.”

Tesla never disclosed the official take rate of its Full Self-Driving (FSD) package, but it did disclose having 400,000 FSD beta testers in North America by the end of 2022.

The take-rate is believed to be much lower globally due to the limited value in other markets where Tesla offers fewer ADAS features under the FSD package.

Globally, it’s safe to assume at least another 100,000 HW3 vehicles with the FSD package, which should bring Tesla’s retrofit requirement to over half a million units.

Musk is right to say that replacing the computers in over 500,000 Tesla vehicles will be “painful.” It will strain its service capacity tremendously, on top of the cost, which will easily surpass $500 million.

But that might just be the beginning.

Tesla promised self-driving hardware in all cars

Musk and Tesla not only made promises to those who bought the FSD package, but they promised anyone buying Tesla vehicles since 2016 had “all the hardware necessary for full self-driving capability.”

As we previously reported, Tesla removed the claim from its website last year and changed the language around the FSD package, which was likely aimed at weakening claims for Tesla HW4 owners, but the case for HW3 owners is more straightforward.

In 2019, Musk claimed “Tesla vehicles are now appreciating assets” because of their future self-driving capabilities. Of course, this proved to be completely wrong.

But there’s one thing that’s true about the value of Tesla vehicles: they would be worth more if they had computers capable of supporting self-driving, which Musk just admitted is not the case. That’s regardless of whether they bought the FSD package or not.

Therefore, there’s a strong argument to be made that Tesla needs to replace computers in all HW3 cars or at the very least, compensate the owners for falsely claiming that the vehicles had “all the hardware necessary for self-driving.”

In fact, there’s already legal precedent for this.

In 2022, a judge ordered Tesla to upgrade a customer’s self-driving computer for free so that they can subscribe to Tesla’s Full Self-Driving program without any additional cost. It created a precedent for Tesla owners who don’t purchase the FSD package.

Based on Tesla’s statement that “all cars produced since 2016 have the hardware necessary for full self-driving capability,” the owners of those vehicles need to have all the hardware necessary to have access to these features.

It’s a clear case of false advertising. Tesla says, “Your car has all the hardware necessary for full self-driving,” and when an owner wants to try the features, Tesla tells them, “You have to pay $1,000 for us to upgrade your hardware.” Something doesn’t add up.

Electrek’s Take

I would be surprised if Tesla does as Musk claimed and replaces HW3 computers in any car, let alone over half a million cars, or as it should be, about 4 million vehicles.

It’s too complicated and costly. It would add hundreds of thousands of work hours to Tesla’s already ultra-busy service operations, and it may not even work.

After being wrong about HW2.5 and HW3, the level of confidence in Tesla achieving unsupervised self-driving on HW4 vehicles is not really high, despite HW4 vehicles not only having more powerful computers but also better cameras.

I don’t think it’s realistic to believe that Tesla will enable level 4 or 5 self-driving capabilities in what are, in some cases, almost 10-year-old vehicles through a computer retrofit.

My 2018 Model 3 Performance was originally a HW 2.5 vehicle, and I purchased the FSD package. Tesla upgraded my computer to HW3 in 2019. We are now in 2025, and Musk finally admitted that the computer I bought 6 years ago won’t enable the self-driving capacity I was promised.

My car will never be self-driving, and I don’t believe Tesla will ever offer a free computer upgrade.

I think Tesla will have to compensate every Tesla HW3 owner worldwide. That would mean about 4 million vehicles and a liability of several billion dollars.

At first, instead of the computer retrofit, I think Tesla will use this as an opportunity to encourage people to upgrade, like it did with the “FSD transfer windows.” Maybe it will offer buybacks at a higher rate to compensate owners.

As for those who didn’t buy the FSD package, I don’t think Tesla will offer anything based on Musk’s messaging. It will have to go through the courts.

There are already several lawsuits filed against Tesla over its self-driving claims, and that was before Musk’s admission that HW3 won’t support unsupervised self-driving. I believe that those lawsuits will ramp up this year.

We’re kicking off this week’s Green Deals with a bunch of savings that will only last through the rest of the day, starting with the final hours of Lectric’s April Showers Sale with up to $654 in e-bike bundle savings, like on the XP Trike for $1,499 that comes with one of the largest bundles we’ve seen at $420 in free gear. In the same vein, it’s the final day of EcoFlow’s Easter Sale and Mega Sale, with shared flash offers at up to 60% off on three different units, including a DELTA Max 2000 Portable Power Station, a DELTA Pro bundle, and a pair of expansion batteries – with everything starting from $849. Lastly, we have a one-day-only sale from Best Buy on the Worx 40V 17-inch Cordless Intellicut Lawn Mower at $266, as well as an additional 4.0Ah battery discount too. Plus, all the other hangover Green Deals from last week are in the links at the bottom of the page, rounded together within our Electrified Weekly coverage.

Head below for other New Green Deals we’ve found today and, of course, Electrek’s best EV buying and leasing deals. Also, check out the new Electrek Tesla Shop for the best deals on Tesla accessories.

Leisurely enjoy errands and joyrides on Lectric’s XP Trike with $420 bundle at $1,499 ($1,919 value)

It’s the final day of Lectric’s April Showers Sale with up to $654 being taken off e-bike bundles, which the brand has provided a countdown clock for through the rest of the day. We wanted to shine a spotlight on the bundle for the Lectric’s XP Trike that is coming with $420 in free gear at $1,499 shipped. You’d normally have to shell out $1,919 to get this package at full price, which sits among some of the largest bundles we have been seeing over the last year. With the additional gear, you’ll be upgrading your riding experience with steel-encased front and rear cargo baskets, a wide saddle with a backrest, a suspension seat post, an Elite 850 lux headlight, and a bell.

Lectric’s XP Trike is an ideal model for folks who enjoy taking leisurely rides around town, especially older riders – plus, with the bonus add-on gear you’ll get more versatility for cargo-hauling needs. The folding frame houses a 500W planetary geared brushless motor that peaks upwards to 1,092Wh alongside a removable 48V 13Ah battery, providing you with 14 MPH top speeds for up to 50 miles when its five pedal assistance levels are activated. Inexperienced riders will also get some added support in its default mode, which limits the acceleration and speed until you get more comfortable with its system.

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And for the price, Lectric’s XP Trike comes with a solid array of stock features too, like the hydraulic brakes and additional parking brake for guaranteed stopping power, as well as others including integrated rear lights (with brake lighting), slimmer tires for easier turning, an ergonomic twist throttle for electric cruising (which will shorten its mileage), and a backlit LCD display. On top of everything, the build comes with an IP65 water-and-dust-resistant protection rating.

Be sure to check out the full lineup of Lectric’s April Showers Sale offers, which are seeing up to $654 taken off the other e-bike bundles through the rest of the day.

You can save up to 60% on EcoFlow’s DELTA Max or DELTA Pro power station setups for today only starting from $849

As part of its soon-to-end Easter Sale and alternate Mega Sale, EcoFlow is closing out these sales tonight with its final flash offers on three different backup power deals, starting with the DELTA Max 2000 Portable Power Station for $849 shipped. We usually see discounts hitting this model’s bundles over the standalone unit, which is being brought down from its $2,099 price tag here for the rest of the day (and sale). We saw it fall lower back during Black Friday sales to $799 and then $759 during Cyber Monday, with today’s deal still coming in as a significant $1,250 in savings, beating out our previous mention during the brand’s Spring Sale by $50 to land down at the third-lowest price we have tracked. You won’t currently find it available at Amazon, with this being the best price we can find right now.

While it may not be the newer second-generation model with shorter charge times and LiFePO4 cells, you’ll still be getting a reliable backup power solution in EcoFlow’s DELTA Max 2000, which offers an equally expandable 2,016Wh to 6,048Wh capacity when you add on expansion batteries. Through its 15 port options it dishes out up to 2,400W of power that can surge up to 3,400W for larger appliance needs too. The battery can be recharged to 80% in just 65 minutes through a standard wall outlet, with alternate options for combination fast-charging, including AC and solar, AC and a generator, or solar and a generator. Of course, you can also solely connect up to its maximum 800W solar input that can refill the battery in 2.5 hours, as well as be used for the previously mentioned combo charging.

The second of these offers bundles the DELTA Pro Portable Power Station with a free protective bag at $1,899 shipped, down from $3,699. While you can find it matching in price at Amazon, you won’t be getting the additional bag there. This is a larger model offering a more expansive setup, this unit comes with a 3,600Wh LiFePO4 capacity that you can invest in further to raise as high as 25kWh. It sports 14 output ports but provides power at up to 3,600W normally while able to surge to 7,200W when needed. Plugging it into a wall outlet gives you back a full battery in 1.8 hours, with its max 1,600W solar input taking a little longer at 2.8 hours.

The final of these offers provides you with two DELTA Pro Smart Extra Batteries for $2,899 shipped over the usual $5,598 rate you’d pay at full price. By adding these to a DELTA Pro power station, you’ll increase its capacity by an additional 7,200Wh, so grabbing them with the above discount would score you a 10,800Wh setup for trips, parties, emergencies, and more.

It’s the final day of EcoFlow’s sales, so be sure to browse through both its Easter Sale and Mega Sale offers while they’re still around and at up to 65% off – plus, the bonus savings, free gear, and rewards.

Affordably cover lawn duties with this Worx 40V 17-inch cordless mower that adapts to grass at $266 (Today only)

As part of its Deals of the Day, Best Buy has two Worx discounts that will affordably get you geared up for spring mowing duties, led by the brand’s 40V 17-inch Cordless Electric Lawn Mower that comes with two 4.0Ah batteries for $265.99 shipped, and matches in price over at Amazon too. Coming down off its $330 perch, most of the recent discounts we’ve seen on this older model have been taking things down to $280, with some falls as low as $247 in the last year. You’re looking at $64 off the going rate here today though, which provides you with a tried-and-true means to handle mowing jobs around your home. Head below to learn more about it and the additional one-day-only offer.

New-time homeowners will find a budget-friendly solution to their mowing needs with this 40V Worx mower that comes powered by the two included 20V 4.0Ah batteries to tackle up to 1/8 acres of land on a single charge. It weighs in at only 35 pounds, making it easy to manage and sports the brand’s Intellicut tech that can either ramp up or dial back the motor’s power depending on the thickness of grass that it moves through. It offers six cutting height levels to choose from, ranging from 1.5 inches to 4 inches while also providing 2-in-1 functionality for either rear bagging (complete with an indicator for a full bag) or mulching. You also won’t have to wrestle with any pull strings thanks to the push-button start nor the fumes or noise you’d get from gas-guzzling models.

Now, with the above bundle, the two batteries will take two hours to charge at the same time with the included dual-port charger, or just 1 hour apiece. Of course, with these all being within Worx’s PowerShare family, batteries can be interchanged, which makes Best Buy’s additional deal for a 20V 4.0Ah battery at $74.99 shipped, quite a solid means to extend the mower’s runtime with more batteries that you can keep switching in and out with one another.

Best New Year EV deals!

• GoTrax Everest Electric Dirt Bike (new low): $3,979 (Reg. $6,000)
• Aventon Ramblas Electric Mountain Bike: $2,599 (Reg. $2,899)
• Lectric ONE Long-Range e-bike with $220 bundle: $2,399 (Reg. $2,507)
• Lectric XPedition 2.0 35Ah Cargo e-bike w/ up to $654 bundle: $1,999 (Reg. $2,741)
• Tenways AGO X All-Terrain e-bike with $307 bundle: $1,899 (Reg. $2,499)
• Lectric XPedition 2.0 26Ah Cargo e-bike w/ $505 bundle: $1,699 (Reg. $2,204)
• Rad Power RadRunner 3 Plus Utility e-bike (new low): $1,699 (Reg. $2,199)
• Aventon Aventure 2 All-Terrain e-bike: $1,699 (Reg. $1,999)
• Tenways CGO800S Step-Thru Commuter e-bike with $315 in free gear: $1,699 (Reg. $1,999)
• Aventon Pace 500.3 Step-Over e-bike with free extra battery: $1,599 (Reg. $1,799)
• Aventon Pace 500.3 Step-Through e-bike with free extra battery: $1,599 (Reg. $1,799)
• Heybike ALPHA All-Terrain e-bike (new low): $1,499 (Reg. $1,699)
• Aventon Abound Cargo e-bike: $1,599 (Reg. $1,999)
• Lectric XPeak 2.0 Long-Range Off-Road e-bike with $316 bundle: $1,599 (Reg. $1,915)
• Aventon Level 2 Commuter e-bike: $1,499 (Reg. $1,899)
• Tenways CGO600 Pro belt-drive e-bike with $118 bundle: $1,499 (Reg. $1,899)
• Tenways CGO600 Pro chain-drive e-bike with $118 bundle: $1,499 (Reg. $1,899)
• Rad Power RadWagon 4 Cargo e-bike with free caboose: $1,499 (Reg. $1,799)
• Lectric XP Trike with $420 bundle: $1,499 (Reg. $1,918)
• Rad Power RadRover 6 Plus Step-Thru Fat Tire e-bike with extra battery: $1,399 (Reg. $1,599)
• Aventon Sinch 2 Folding e-bike: $1,399 (Reg. $1,699)
• Velotric 2024 Nomad 1 Plus All-Terrain e-bike with $134 bundle: $1,399 (Reg. $1,799)
• Lectric XPeak 2.0 Standard Off-Road e-bike with $227 bundle: $1,399 (Reg. $1,626)
• Lectric XPedition 2.0 13Ah Cargo e-bike with $296 bundle: $1,399 (Reg. $1,725)
• Rad Power RadExpand 5 Folding e-bike (new low): $1,299 (Reg. $1,599)
• Rad Power RadRunner Plus Utility e-bike (new low): $1,299 (Reg. $1,799)
• Velotric T1 ST Plus Lightweight e-bike with $120 bundle: $1,299 (Reg. $1,549)
• Velotric Discover 1 Plus Step-Thru Commuter e-bike with $120 bundle: $1,199 (Reg. $1,599)
• Lectric XP 3.0 Long-Range e-bikes with up to $455 bundle: $1,199 (Reg. $1,706)
• Lectric XP Lite 2.0 JW Black LR e-bike with $365 bundle: $1,099 (Reg. $1,464)
• Segway Ninebot MAX G3 eKickScooter: $1,000 (Reg. $1,400)
• Rad Power RadRunner 2 Utility e-bike (new low): $999 (Reg. $1,499)
• Aventon Soltera.2 Urban Commuter e-bike: $999 (Reg. $1,199)
• Lectric XP 3.0 Standard e-bikes: $999 (Reg. $1,507)
• Lectric XP Lite 2.0 Long-Range e-bikes with up to $316 bundles: $999 (Reg. $1,315)
• NIU BQi-C3 Pro e-bike: $999 (Reg. $2,200)
• Segway Ninebot F3 eKickScooter (preorder through April 14): $600 (Reg. $850)

Best new Green Deals landing this week

The savings this week are also continuing to a collection of other markdowns. To the same tune as the offers above, these all help you take a more energy-conscious approach to your routine. Winter means you can lock in even better off-season price cuts on electric tools for the lawn while saving on EVs and tons of other gear.