One in six new cars sold in the EU last year was an electric car

Roughly one in six passenger cars newly registered in the European Union last year was an electric car. According to the german Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), citing the European statistical agency Eurostat, electric cars accounted for 17.3 percent of the total. Ten years ago, that figure was just 0.4 percent.

Hybrid vehicles accounted for 42.4 percent of new passenger car registrations; 27.3 percent were gasoline-only vehicles; and just under one in ten new cars was a diesel vehicle (9.8 percent). Other propulsion types, such as liquefied natural gas or natural gas, played only a minor role.

In terms of the share of all-electric cars among new registrations, Germany was slightly above the EU average in 2025 at 19.1 percent, but significantly behind some other countries. Across the EU, the share was highest in Denmark (67.8%), followed by the Netherlands (40.2%) and Malta (37.6%). The share of electric vehicles among new registrations was lowest in Croatia (1.9%), Slovakia (4.7%), and Bulgaria (4.9%).

The European leader is a country outside the EU: In Norway, 95.1 percent of passenger cars newly registered last year were fully electric. According to Destatis, the reasons for these significant differences include variations in investment in the charging infrastructure as well as in subsidy policies—such as tax breaks or reduced tolls and parking fees—across individual countries.

When it comes to the transition to electric mobility, Germany’s significance as the EU’s largest automotive market becomes clear when looking at the absolute registration figures: Approximately 545,100 electric cars were newly registered in Germany in 2025. This means that Germany accounted for 28.9 percent of the total 1.89 million new electric vehicle registrations in the EU. France followed at a considerable distance with 330,900 new electric vehicles, representing 17.5 percent of registrations in the European Union. (aum)