Europe EV sales jump 70% to capture a third of market

Anabelle Colaco
21 Oct 2026, 15:00 GMT+10

Electric vehicle registrations across key European markets surged more than 70 percent in September, giving fully electric cars nearly a third of the market as high oil prices, subsidies and more affordable models supported demand
Battery-electric vehicle registrations rose 70.3 percent from a year earlier to 300,202 vehicles across 17 key European markets, according to data from E-Mobility Europe, New Automotive and Fier Automotive
Fully electric vehicles accounted for 32.6 percent of new-car registrations during the month

BRUSSELS, Belgium: Electric vehicle registrations across key European markets surged more than 70 percent in September, giving fully electric cars nearly a third of the market as high oil prices, subsidies and more affordable models supported demand.

Battery-electric vehicle registrations rose 70.3 percent from a year earlier to 300,202 vehicles across 17 key European markets, according to data from E-Mobility Europe, New Automotive and Fier Automotive.

Fully electric vehicles accounted for 32.6 percent of new-car registrations during the month.

So far this year, 1.98 million battery-electric vehicles have been registered across Europe, up 38.1 percent from the same period in 2025.

The growth comes as France and Germany have reached a deal to soften proposed European Union car emissions rules.

France recorded a 41.7 percent battery-electric vehicle market share in September, with 65,243 registrations, while Germany's share reached 34.6 percent, with 88,724 vehicles registered.

The Nordic market remained Europe's most electrified, led by Norway, where battery-electric vehicles accounted for 98.8 percent of registrations. Denmark followed with 88.8 percent, Finland with 62.7 percent and Sweden with 49 percent.

Battery-electric vehicles also accounted for around half of new registrations in Ireland, Portugal, Belgium and the Netherlands.

Adoption remained substantially lower in some other European markets. Battery-electric vehicles represented 11.2 percent of registrations in the Czech Republic, 7.6 percent in Italy and 6.2 percent in Poland.