European countries registered 1.2 million new battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in the first six months of 2026, a record figure for the first half of a year and 33.7% year-on-year growth rate.
This is the headline takeaway from the lates report into BEV adoption across Europe, published by trade body E-Mobility Europe, research organisation New Automotive and consultant FIER Automotive. The figures cover BEV registration figures for the majority of European countries, including non-EU member Switzerland, but does not include the UK.
The companies described the performance of Europe’s BEV sector in June, in particular, as “spectacular”, with 275,060 new BEV registrations last month. This is up 39.5% over the number of BEV registrations in June 2025, and 29.5% more than the 212,387 BEVs registered in Europe in May 2026.
This has pushed the BEV market share across the EU to 27.4%, and among ‘key markets’, which includes more mature BEV markets with larger BEV registrations, such as France, this market share is 25.6%.
France saw a particularly impressive June, with the 55,831 new BEV registrations the most ever recorded in a single month, and BEVs accounted for 29.6% of all new vehicle registrations, which is also a record figure. France now has the second-most BEV registrations this year, with its 242,852 registrations behind only the 367,388 recorded in Germany. Both countries have also reported a strong year-to-date BEV market share, of 28% and 24.8%, respectively.
The report also highlights that a number of less mature markets have broken records for single-month registration volumes, including Belgium, Denmark, Portugal and Finland, which collectively have reported fewer BEV installations this year than France alone. The single highest growth figure in BEV registrations is in Slovenia, which has seen a 124.7% growth rate in BEV registrations in the first month of the year; BEVs also held a 25.3% market share of new vehicle registrations in June.
“June rewrote the record books for the EU’s EV market,” said E-Mobility Europe CEO Chris Heron. “From Denmark to Spain, and from France to Czechia, countries across Europe are reaching new heights in electric vehicle adoption.
“Better policies, better EVs, and sustained concern over oil dependence are all converging. These results should give policymakers the confidence to finalise clear rules for securing the next phase of the transition.”
However, the trajectory has not been universally positive. Sweden and the Netherlands were the only two countries assessed by the companies to report a decline in BEV registrations from January to June 2025 to January to June 2026. These countries saw a 10.6% and 18.7% year-on-year decline in registrations, respectively.
The Netherlands is particularly notable as there may be a degree of market saturation in the country’s EV sector. Figures from the International Energy Agency (IEA) show that the Netherlands boasted Europe’s largest public charging network at the end of 2025, but in the months since the pace of new charger deployments has slowed to a crawl; between February and March of this year, new charger deployments fell from 3,152 to 690.
European growth rate outpaces that of China
E-Mobility Europe, New Automotive and FIER Automotive also pointed to strong growth across Europe’s BEV sector in comparison to China, noting that Europe is now “outpacing” BEV sales in China. While China had a BEV market share of 42.8% in June, five countries in Europe—Norway, Denmark, Ireland, Finland and the Netherlands—exceeded this total. Norway, in particular, saw a “near-total” market share of BEVs accounting for 97.6% of all new vehicle registrations in June.
Indeed, China’s domestic BEV registration grew by 6% month-on-month, compared to the 29.5% month-on-month growth rate in Europe. Ben Nelmes, New Automotive CEO, said that this month’s figures means that Europe is now “setting the pace globally” in terms of BEV adoption.
“These figures put to bed any lingering doubt about the direction of travel. Europe isn’t just keeping pace with the electric transition; it’s now setting the pace globally, outstripping China’s own market share growth in June,” said Nelmes. “Governments and industry now need to make sure the charging infrastructure and market conditions are in place to sustain this momentum through the rest of the year.”