Record quarter for electric cars across Europe – Q3 2025

The Western European new passenger car market convincingly saw every fifth new car entering the 18 market region being zero-emission tailpipe BEV-only car models between July and September 2025, latest Schmidt Automotive Research data, published in the full monthly market intelligence study.

The monitored region consists of the EU member states prior to the EU expansion in 2024, plus EFTA and UK markets which account for over 95% of the wider European region's total BEV volumes while accounting for 90% of the total new passenger car market across all fuels, has consistently seen growth during 2025. The 12-month trailing BEV penetration up to the end of September 2025 period hit 2.27 million units or a 19.5% market share, with the trend continuing upwards according to the latest research.

During the opening 9 months of 2025, 19.6% of all new passenger cars were BEV models, while during the most recent quarter it recorded a new quarterly record of 21.1%. The gains can be attributed to the product cadence from many OEMs as they roll-out new models to lower CO2 fleet averages and meet toughening EU-wide corporate average fleet emissions (CAFE) targets which sharpened from 2025, while across the UK OEMs have increased BEV volumes to achieve Californian-style zero-emission (ZEV) mandate targets that were first introduced in 2024. Our monthly European Electric Car Study forecasts a full-year regional BEV penetration achieving almost 22% share of the total new car market, with markets such as France contributing positively during the final quarter of the year given the reintroduction of the country's social-leasing scheme which was introduced during the final quarter of this year. The scheme isn't financed though the household budget this year but through a social environment fund so will not be impacted by the domestic budget issues currently troubling the French government. The UK will also see a reintroduction of an electric car grant which is expected to have a positive impact, while an Italian subsidy roll-out is also expected to help the market there seeing BEV models available for as little as €5,000 for low income households capable of trading in an older model. After 9-months so far this year the regional West European BEV mix stood at 19.6%, which was a 3.7% percentage point increase over the same period last year. September recorded the third highest monthly BEV mix on record accounting for 22.5% of the region's new market, positively impacted by the UK's ZEV mandate and the seasonality effect from the registration plate change over. Both of the two other months that saw higher penetration levels witnessed special one-off effects inflating volumes, such as the ending of purchase incentives bringing volumes forward. Meanwhile with PHEVs added to the equation every third new car entering the West European new passenger car market during September was capable of recharging externally.

Full details, data, trends and background information can be found in our industry-leading studies, trusted by stakeholders breaching industry divides. 

Source: Schmidt Automotive Research 

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*Western Europe 18 Markets: EU Member States prior to the 2004 enlargement plus EFTA markets Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, plus UK