Climate-friendly transport: Share of electric cars in new registrations reaches record

The share of electric cars in new registrations in the EU rose to a record level in 2025. Cars with purely electric drives accounted for 17.3 percent of all new registrations, as the Federal Statistical Office announced on Tuesday based on results from the European statistics authority Eurostat. This means that around one in six newly registered cars in the EU was an electric car. “That was a new high.”

Another 42.4 percent of newly registered cars were hybrid cars. The share of purely electric cars in new annual registrations in the EU has increased significantly within ten years - in 2015 it was 0.4 percent.

In terms of the share of purely electric cars in new registrations in 2025, Germany was slightly above the EU average at 19.1 percent, but well behind some other countries. Across the EU, the proportion was highest in Denmark (67.8 percent), ahead of the Netherlands (40.2) and Malta (37.6). The share of electric cars in new registrations was lowest in Croatia (1.9 percent), Slovakia (4.7) and Bulgaria (4.9).

E-cars have recently experienced an upswing in Germany - due to high fuel prices, better charging infrastructure, cheaper entry-level models and the federal government's subsidy. According to the Federal Motor Transport Authority, 69,000 purely electric cars were newly registered in Germany in August, a good 75 percent more than in the same month last year.

Across the EU, the trend towards e-mobility is also pointing upwards this year: in the first half of 2026, the proportion of purely electric cars climbed to 20.7 percent, according to the European car association Acea, after 15.6 percent a year earlier. The association sees strong growth in Germany, France and Denmark. However, a country outside the EU is leading Europe: In Norway, a good 95 percent of newly registered cars in 2025 had a purely electric drive.

As the largest car market in the EU, Germany plays an important role in the switch to e-mobility in Europe: around 545,100 electric cars were newly registered in this country in 2025. This means that Germany accounted for 28.9 percent of the 1.89 million new registrations of electric cars in the EU. France followed at a distance with 330,900 new electric cars and 17.5 percent of EU registrations.