January to September 2026: Electric vehicle share in the EU at 22.7 percent

Image: Fiat (illustrative)

New car registrations in the European Union increased by 5.7 percent from January to September 2026 compared to the same period last year. Electric vehicles were particularly in demand, with hybrid cars remaining the most popular type of vehicle, accounting for 36.3 percent of the market share.

A total of 3,090,530 hybrid vehicles were newly registered, with Italy (+20.8 %) and Spain (+20.5 %) showing significant growth. Registrations also increased in Germany (+4.9 %) and France (+0.6 %).

Battery-only vehicles accounted for 22.7 percent of market share with 1,931,465 new registrations, up from 16.1 percent in the previous period. This made them the second most popular propulsion type in the EU, with France (+79.1 %), Germany (+58.1 %), and Denmark (+40.3 %) showing particularly strong growth.

For plug-in hybrids, new registrations rose to 860,257 vehicles, increasing their market share from 9 percent to 10.1 percent, with significant growth in Italy (+72.4 %), Spain (+34.7 %), and Germany (+13.7 %).

In contrast, new registrations of gasoline and diesel vehicles continued to decline, causing their combined market share to drop from 36.9% to 28.2%. For gasoline vehicles, the decline was 19.1%, with France recording the steepest drop at 36.1%, followed by Germany (-22.7%), Spain (-19%), and Italy (-16.4%).

A total of 1,802,078 gasoline vehicles were newly registered, accounting for a market share of 21.2% compared to 27.7% in the previous year’s period. Diesel vehicle registrations fell by 19.5%, while their market share dropped from 9.3% to 7.1%.

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About the author

Thomas Langenbucher is an expert in electromobility with professional experience in the automotive industry and finance sector. Since 2011, he has been covering electric vehicles, sustainable technologies, and mobility solutions for ecomento.de. Learn more.

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