EU: Share of electric cars in new registrations reaches record high by 2025

Image: Renault (illustrative)

One in six newly registered cars in the European Union is an electric vehicle. Cars with purely electric propulsion accounted for 17.3 percent of all new registrations in the EU in 2025, according to data released by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) following figures from the European statistical agency Eurostat on Europe’s car-free day. This represented a new record high.

An additional 42.4 percent of new car registrations were hybrid vehicles, 27.3 percent were purely gasoline-powered, and 9.8 percent were purely diesel-powered. Other types of propulsion systems, such as those using liquefied or natural gas, played a minor role.

The share of electric vehicles in annual new registrations in the EU has risen significantly over ten years (2015: 0.4 %).

Denmark and the Netherlands Lead EU in New Electric Vehicle Registrations

In terms of the share of pure electric vehicles among new registrations in 2025, Germany had a rate of 19.1 percent, slightly above the EU average but far behind some other countries. The highest share of newly registered electric vehicles across the EU was in Denmark (67.8 %), followed by the Netherlands (40.2 %) and Malta (37.6 %). The lowest share of electric vehicles among new registrations was in Croatia (1.9 %), Slovakia (4.7 %), and Bulgaria (4.9 %).

A country outside the EU leads across Europe: In Norway, 95.1 percent of newly registered passenger cars in 2025 had a pure electric drive. According to analysts, factors contributing to these significant differences include variations in investment in charging infrastructure as well as support policies such as tax incentives or reduced tolls or parking fees in different countries.

The importance of Germany as the largest auto market in the EU becomes evident when looking at absolute registration numbers in the transition to electric mobility: Around 545,100 electric cars were newly registered in the Federal Republic in 2025. This accounted for 28.9 percent of the total 1.89 million new electric car registrations in the EU. France followed far behind with 330,900 new electric cars, representing 17.5 percent of EU registrations.

This year, electric cars are seeing further growth. This is attributed to high fuel prices, improved charging infrastructure, and more affordable entry-level models. In some countries, there are also subsidies; in Germany, a new electric car purchase incentive has been in place this year. According to the Federal Motor Transport Authority, 68,930 pure electric vehicles were newly registered in Germany in August, 75.1 percent more than in the same month last year.

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About the author

Thomas Langenbucher is an expert in electromobility with experience in the automotive and financial industries. Since 2011, he has been covering electric cars, sustainable technologies, and mobility solutions for ecomento.de. Learn more.

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