UK EV Auto Sales Reach 32% of New Cars in October
Battery-electric vehicles made up 32% of new car registrations in the United Kingdom in October, narrowing the gap with petrol cars to 5.2 percentage points. New registrations rose 5.4% year over year, with plug-in models accounting for all market growth as hybrids and diesel declined.
Battery-electric vehicles accounted for 32% of new car registrations in the United Kingdom in October, bringing EV auto sales closer to petrol cars and marking the smallest gap between the two categories to date. The difference was 5.2 percentage points.
The UK registered 152,730 new cars in October, up 5.4% from the same month in 2025, data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders showed. Battery-electric registrations climbed 32.7% to 48,858.
Plug-in hybrids also gained ground. They recorded 22,898 registrations, an increase of 30.1%.
Together, plug-in hybrids and battery-electric vehicles accounted for all growth in the overall market, which has now expanded for 11 consecutive months. Conventional hybrid registrations fell 5%, while diesel registrations dropped 15.9%.
Petrol cars retained the larger share in October, at 37.2%, despite registrations falling 11.6% to 56,876. The gap with battery-electric vehicles has narrowed as petrol’s share declined from 47.2% to 41.1% between the first 10 months of 2025 and the same period in 2026.
Battery-electric vehicles held a 26.6% share across the first 10 months of 2026. Their 503,805 registrations in that period were up 30.4% year over year.
The monthly figures also point to a potential shift in the market. An analysis of trends since March 2024 found battery-electric vehicles gaining an average of about 0.36 percentage points of market share per month, while petrol lost roughly half a point monthly.
Extending those trends would put the two categories at similar shares around August 2027. The timing could change as manufacturers face pressure to meet the United Kingdom’s zero-emission vehicle mandate.
December has often brought a jump in battery-electric sales. They represented 31% of registrations that month in 2024 and 32.2% in 2025.
If recent year-over-year shifts continue, battery-electric vehicles could reach about 37% of December registrations, compared with roughly 32% for petrol. That would give them a lead over petrol in the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders’ headline categories, which count mild hybrids with petrol or diesel.
A combined battery-electric share of approximately 31% in November and December would match the trade group’s full-year forecast of 27.2%. That forecast leaves the timing of a sustained crossover uncertain.
Under an alternative classification that groups mild hybrids with hybrids, battery-electric vehicles had already led every other individual powertrain category in August. The possible December lead would be the first over petrol under the trade group’s standard classification.
