Note N05. Published on 6 October 2026. Theme: Freedoms, well-being and climate. Lens: Is Europe losing, or choosing?.
One in six new cars in the EU is now electric, but the pace depends on the country
In 2025, 17.3% of new cars in the EU were battery electric, up from 1.9% in 2019. In Denmark, 67.8%; in Spain, 8.7%; in Croatia, 1.9%.
The EU has already chosen where cars are heading. The rules adopted in 2023 set a 100% cut in CO2 emissions from new cars by 2035, which in practice rules out combustion engines. In December 2025 the Commission proposed lowering that target to 90% and offsetting the rest; the proposal is now with Parliament and the Council.
Buyers are moving more slowly than the rules, and at very different speeds. In 2025, 17.3% of new cars in the EU were battery electric. In Denmark, more than two in three; in the Netherlands, Malta, Finland, Sweden and Belgium, more than a third. In 13 of the 27 countries they are below 10%: Spain stands at 8.7%, Italy at 6.1% and Croatia at 1.9%. Outside the EU, in Norway, the figure is 95.1%.
In Denmark, more than two in three new cars are electric; in Croatia, fewer than two in a hundred
Battery electric cars as a % of new passenger car registrations, 2025
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Adding plug-in hybrids lifts the EU share to 26.7%, and Spain's to 19.2%, more than double the battery electric figure.
The jump has been fast: in 2019 they were 1.9% in the EU. But it has not been a straight line. In 2024 the share fell for the first time, from 14.5% to 13.5%, dragged down mainly by Germany, the largest market, which closed its purchase subsidy in December 2023 and went from 18.4% to 13.5%. In 2025 it recovered: it rose in 22 of the 27 countries, and Germany reached 19.1%.
In the EU, the electric car share rose from 1.9% in 2019 to 17.3% in 2025
Battery electric cars as a % of new passenger car registrations, 2013-2025
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