Electric vehicles account for 29.9 percent of new car registrations in the EU.
New registrations of electric vehicles in the EU surged in September. According to ACEA, 290,117 pure electric vehicles were newly registered—72.9 percent more than in the same month last year. This gave them a market share of 29.9 percent in September. Since the start of the year, BEVs have accounted for a 22.7 percent market share.
New electric compact car series from the VW Group (illustrative image)
Photo: Volkswagen
Electric mobility continues to gain momentum in the European auto market. According to the manufacturers' association ACEA, 290,117 new battery-electric cars were registered in the EU in September. This represents a 72.9 percent increase compared to the same month last year. Across all propulsion types, 971,048 new cars hit the roads in September, 9.3 percent more than in September 2025. Pure electric cars thus accounted for 29.9 percent of registrations that month. In other words, nearly three out of ten newly registered cars had a fully electric drive system.
Even throughout the first part of the year, electric mobility has seen significant growth. From January to September, 1,931,465 new electric cars were registered in the EU. This represents a 48.5 percent increase compared to the same period last year. The market share of BEVs rose from 16.1 percent in the previous year to 22.7 percent this year. As a result, pure electric cars are now the second-largest type of vehicle in the EU’s new car market, behind mild and full hybrids without plugs (which account for 36.3 percent of the market share).
Germany and France drive growth
Growth was particularly strong in the major European markets. In Germany, 88,599 new BEVs were registered in September, a 94.7 percent increase from the previous month — giving this market a share of 34.5 percent, as we reported in our eMobility Dashboard. France saw 65,243 electric vehicles, representing a 107.5 percent rise. Denmark also recorded a significant increase of 36.9 percent with 17,784 new registrations.
Since the start of the year, Germany has led the three mentioned markets with 604,144 newly registered electric vehicles. This represents a 58.1 percent increase compared to the first nine months of the previous year. France has 387,342 BEVs (+79.1 percent), while Denmark has 124,049 (+40.3 percent). Together with Belgium, where new registrations rose by 15.7 percent to 125,220 vehicles, these four markets accounted for approximately 64 percent of all new BEV registrations in the EU.
Hybrids remain the strongest type of propulsion
Despite strong growth in BEV sales, hybrid vehicles remain the largest category of propulsion systems. From January to September, 3,090,530 new passenger cars with full or mild hybrid drive were registered, accounting for 36.3 percent of the market. Plug-in hybrids totaled 860,257 vehicles, representing 10.1 percent of the market, with their new registrations rising by 18.6 percent compared to the same period last year.
In terms of plug-in hybrids, growth was particularly strong in Italy: 121,647 vehicles were registered from January to September, 72.4 percent more than the previous year. In Spain, new registrations increased by 34.7 percent, while in Germany they rose by 13.7 percent to 247,489 vehicles.
Conventional engines, on the other hand, continue to lose ground. The number of newly registered gasoline vehicles dropped by 19.1 percent in the first nine months to 1,802,078 units. Their market share fell from 27.7 percent to 21.2 percent. For diesel cars, new registrations declined by 19.5 percent to 602,206 units; their share shrank from 9.3 percent to 7.1 percent.
Growth Also in Non-EU Countries
Important: Even outside the EU, new BEV registrations in other European markets also rose significantly. In the EFTA countries of Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland, 27,115 pure electric vehicles were newly registered in September, representing a 36.3 percent increase from the previous month. In the United Kingdom, the figure was 99,201 vehicles, an increase of 36.3 percent. From January to September, new BEV registrations in the EFTA countries rose by 10.9 percent to 163,398 vehicles, while in the United Kingdom they increased by 30.2 percent to 454,947.
For the entire region comprising the EU, EFTA, and the UK, ACEA reported 416,433 new BEVs in September — a 59.9 percent increase. Since the beginning of the year, sales in this region have totaled 2.55 million electric vehicles, 41.9 percent more than in the same period last year.
BYD, Chery, and Leapmotor are growing strongly
The figures by manufacturer are also interesting, though ACEA does not differentiate by propulsion type here. However, as seen in August, Chinese manufacturers again demonstrated strong momentum, managing to expand their sales in Europe. In the EU, BYD increased its new vehicle registrations by 111.4 percent to 28,309 units in September compared to the same month last year. From January to September, growth reached 154.4 percent, totaling 206,002 registrations. Chery, including Jaecoo, Jetour, and Omoda, registered 20,707 vehicles in September (+223.8 percent) and 137,003 units since the start of the year (+246.5 percent). SAIC, MG’s parent company, saw a 24.8 percent increase to 22,978 registrations in September; for the year to date, it was 186,650 vehicles (+20.4 percent). Leapmotor showed particularly strong growth with 10,229 new registrations in September (+255.7 percent) and in total so far this year.
72,760 vehicles since the start of the year (+393.6 percent).In the broader market including the EU, EFTA, and the UK, a similar trend is evident: BYD saw its registrations rise by 98.7 percent to 49,953 vehicles in September, Chery by 185.5 percent to 52,801, and SAIC by 23.7 percent to 41,987. Leapmotor recorded 14,594 new registrations, representing a increase of 323.9 percent. Since the beginning of the year, BYD has had 283,997 vehicles (+134.6 percent), Chery 260,650 (+255.9 percent), SAIC 272,251 (+20.3 percent), and Leapmotor 87,922 (+424.2 percent), all significantly above last year’s figures.