Electric Vehicle Adoption Growing Rapidly in Southeast Asia

KatadataOTO – Throughout 2025, electrified vehicles, including electric cars, have become a trend that has been well-received by the public.

Especially electric cars from China. Competitive pricing is one of the main attractions for many consumers.

In the midst of the electrification era, the Southeast Asian automotive market is in the spotlight due to the rapid development of the electric car trend there.

Previously, the United States and Europe were the regions that most quickly adopted the use of electric cars.

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However, data compiled by Arena EV states that the three countries with the highest electric car sales are outside of Europe.

For context, back in 2019, only four countries recorded that 20 percent of their sales were electric cars.

In 2025, the number has risen from four to 39 countries. China remains the main leader, where 50 percent of their car sales are from the electrification line.

Not only China, Vietnam has also shown positive performance this year. The electric car market share there has almost reached 40 percent. 

Meanwhile in Thailand, 20 percent of their total new car sales are Electric Vehicles (EV). In the European Union, it is 26 percent, while the UK is 33 percent.

In Vietnam, the VinFast VF 3 is recorded as the best-selling car. The model is said to be suitable for the urban mobility needs of the local community.

“Indonesia is also moving quickly. Their electric car sales market share reached 15 percent this year, higher than the 7.3 percent in the United States,” wrote the Arena EV report, quoted on Tuesday (23/12).

Besides Southeast Asia, Latin American countries are also showing positive achievements. The EV market share in Uruguay is 27 percent, and Costa Rica is 17 percent.

Then, the percentage of electric car sales in Brazil and Mexico is higher when compared to the achievements in Japan.

This indicates the positive development of electric cars, not only happening in the US and Europe but also including Southeast Asia.

Photo: KatadataOTO

It should be noted that many Chinese electric cars are currently enlivening the country's automotive landscape. Again, low prices are a special attraction.

The BYD Atto 1 was just launched with a price of Rp 199 million. Then there is the newcomer Changan, which debuted at the Gaikindo Jakarta Auto Week or GJAW 2025 event.

Seeing the density of electric car models, it is worth waiting for the fierce competition that is likely to occur next year. Especially since brands like BYD are considering bringing in new models, including Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV).