Electric vehicles (EVs) are no longer a fringe technology. They’re an industrial reality — reshaping supply chains, business models and consumer expectations at a scale unseen since the diesel revolution. Yet, as PwC’s eReadiness 2025: EVs Charging Ahead in a Broadening Market report shows, global growth is now accompanied by caution.
Across the 40 markets PwC tracks, EV sales surged 42 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2025, reaching a record market share. But as report co-author Patrick Amberger notes, this transition is uneven: “The electric mobility transition is happening at different speeds around the world.”
Recent global data underscores that volatility. According to Rho Motion figures cited by Reuters, global battery-electric and plug-in hybrid sales hit 2.1 million units in September 2025, a 26 percent increase year-on-year — the highest ever monthly total. China accounted for roughly two-thirds of all deliveries.
Yet just a month earlier, Gulf Today reported that growth had slowed to 15 percent in August, marking one of the weakest months in two years. For all its record-breaking highs, the EV industry is starting to experience the cyclical pressures familiar to any maturing sector: subsidy fatigue, supply-chain strain, and the return of affordability as the deciding factor.
The Price Barrier Remains
PwC’s survey reveals the hard truth: “Nearly half of those surveyed say the overall price of the vehicle was the deciding factor.”
EV ownership, the firm notes, still skews affluent. Average household income among EV owners sits at €105,000, compared with €87,000 for potential buyers and €57,000 for sceptics. As Amberger’s team concludes: “For the global EV market to keep growing, the price of new vehicles — as well as the cost of maintaining them — will need to become more competitive.”
More than 60% of EV owners globally would consider buying a used EV as a next car (an increase of 10 percentage points from 2024), the survey also reveals.
“Here, again, cost and convenience are the most commonly cited reasons. A reduced insurance premium (58%) is the top motivation cited by EV owners, followed by the lower depreciation value of the vehicle and lower upfront costs. Less than half (40%) also like the fact that used EVs are immediately available (a reflection perhaps of the supply chain difficulties that have hampered production and delivery of new models in recent years, and that could be exacerbated as trade tariffs come into effect).”
“In Europe, Norwegian drivers show the most interest in purchasing a used EV—no doubt because of their government’s goal to stop the sale of new ICE vehicles by 2025. For several years, EV sales have been strong in Norway, and in 2024, EVs accounted for 90% of the new cars sold there — meaning a robust inventory of used EVs will be available in the future.
Japan and Malaysia are among the countries where EV owners are increasingly open to used EV models: “Improved battery warranty, safety and occupational health certifications are key factors in incentivising customers, as is the transparency in prior service and maintenance history provided by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM).”
Although the total cost of ownership of an EV is already lower than that of a comparable internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle, the upfront transaction price continues to be a more relevant factor for consumers: “Nearly half of those surveyed say the overall price of the vehicle was the deciding factor for their purchasing decision. Automakers seem to be responding. Chinese automakers have now made significant inroads into the global consumer EV market with dependable, competitively priced vehicles. European carmakers are also striving to meet the demand for affordable EVs.”
For fleets, the argument to buy remain a case of intense scrutiny of their capital expenditure and residual values. While total cost of ownership continues to tilt in EVs’ favour, few operators in the Middle East can ignore the up-front price premium — especially in economies where fuel remains cheap and plentiful.
Charging Time is the New Range Anxiety
The second friction point is no surprise. PwC found that 50 percent of respondents cited charging duration as their top concern, followed by battery lifetime (40 percent) and range (35 percent).
Interestingly, the study shows a shift in expectation: 52 percent of drivers now say a 300-to-400 kilometre range is acceptable if they can recharge in under 30 minutes.
In practical fleet terms, that half-hour threshold is the new battleground. It defines whether delivery vans make their next slot, or whether a construction site’s equipment cycle runs on schedule. For logistics companies juggling high-density routes and regional temperatures, depot charging, ultra-fast corridors and predictive scheduling are becoming the decisive variables.
Another defining theme of eReadiness 2025 is the maturing EV ecosystem. PwC reports that 54 percent of EV owners purchased a home-charging solution bundled with their car — up sharply year-on-year. More strikingly, over 60 percent said they would consider buying a used EV next time, a 10-point jump from 2024.
That appetite points to a market entering its second stage. As the authors write: “OEMs should boost certified pre-owned programmes by clearly communicating battery state of health, providing battery-specific warranties and launching flexible finance offers for used EVs.”
In fleet and rental contexts, that guidance reads like a business-model manual: battery-health transparency, lifecycle guarantees, and used-fleet remarketing are quickly becoming the differentiators between success and stagnation.
For the Gulf states, PwC’s findings carry both challenge and promise. “The lower appetite for switching from ICE vehicles to EVs in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia can be explained by their ready and cheap supply of fossil fuels,” the report notes.
Yet it also points to momentum beneath the surface: “Saudi Arabia’s major investments in renewable energy generation suggest that a transition to e-mobility in the coming years will accelerate.”
That duality captures the regional moment perfectly. Fuel prices remain a comfort blanket; infrastructure and incentives are still developing. But with giga-projects targeting decarbonisation and national fleets under scrutiny, the transition’s logic could be impossible to ignore.
The PHEV Wake-Up Call
Not every electrified solution deserves its halo. A new Transport & Environment investigation, Smoke Screen: The Growing PHEV Emissions Scandal, reveals that plug-in hybrids may be emitting up to five times their official CO₂ figures in real-world use.
T&E warns that regulators assumed drivers operated in electric mode 84 percent of the time, while data shows the figure closer to 27 percent. The result: real-world emissions of 135 g CO₂/km — barely 19 percent below traditional combustion engines.
As the report states: “This persistent underestimation of PHEV emissions directly benefits manufacturers by helping them meet CO₂ targets more easily.”
For fleet buyers, particularly in high-mileage or high-temperature markets, this is a crucial caution. The PHEV may promise compliance, but in daily operations it risks delivering neither true sustainability nor operational efficiency.
The combined insights of PwC, media coverage and T&FME’s own discussions from a regional perspective are leading to a new phase in the transition era. With early adopters now passing the torch to domestic and fleet owners we are reaching the point where execution matters. As do the economics and rigmarole of ownership.
Globally the existing charging infrastructure is falling behind the sales of vehicles. As discussed at the Farizon launch last month, and the Mercedes-Benz Vans showcase this month, owners need the ecosystems that make EV operations viable, not just aspirational.
For fleets and logistics businesses across the GCC, business-model innovation must extend to charging-as-a-service, battery-leasing and uptime guarantees.
Technology selection has to fit duty cycles — urban delivery, quarry transport, inter-city haulage — rather than chasing trend curves. Policy frameworks will determine who leads: incentive continuity, residual-value clarity, and public-private infrastructure partnerships are the catalysts. And ecosystem development, from battery recycling to second-life applications, is where regional value creation will truly occur.
PwC’s eReadiness 2025 report closes with an observation that might have been written for every fleet manager reading this magazine: “This growth represents a significant opportunity for incumbents, start-ups and companies eager to capitalise on changes in the way we move.”
The opportunity is undeniable, but so is the need for strategic discipline. For the Middle East, where cheap fuel still tempts inertia, the challenge is to turn enthusiasm into infrastructure, and pilots into policy.
The electric era has arrived. The question now is not if, but how well fleets, dealers and infrastructure partners execute on its promise.
