European battery-electric sales jump as global EV demand reaches 2.09 million in October

Europe leads monthly growth

Worldwide sales of battery-electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids reached 2.09 million in October, an 8% increase from a year earlier, according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence data reported by Electrek. The monthly total was 3% below September, but it lifted sales for the first ten months of 2026 to 17.5 million, 5% ahead of the same period in 2025.

Europe supplied the strongest growth among the major established markets. Buyers in the region purchased 510,000 plug-in vehicles during October, 36% more than a year earlier. Battery-electric sales rose 49%, while plug-in hybrid sales increased 7%. Europe has now recorded 4.5 million plug-in sales during 2026.

October's European volume was 17% lower than September's record, although the prior month benefited from the United Kingdom's twice-yearly registration-plate change. The annual comparison therefore offers a clearer indication of the region's direction. Germany's battery-electric registrations rose almost 80% to more than 95,000, and electric vehicles exceeded 45% of the country's new-car market. UK electric-vehicle sales grew 30%, while electric vehicles represented 55% of new registrations in Portugal.

North American increase needs context

North American sales rose 24% year over year to 130,000, the region's first annual increase of 2026. Around 110,000 were sold in the United States. However, October 2025 was the first month after the US federal electric-vehicle tax credit expired, and sales had dropped sharply then. The latest annual gain is consequently measured against an unusually weak base.

The region's volume was flat from September. Its 1.3 million sales through October remained 21% below the comparable 2025 period, indicating that demand has stabilized below its previous level rather than fully recovered.

China remained the world's largest market, selling 1.14 million plug-in vehicles in October. That was 5% more than in September but 12% less than a year earlier. Sales for the first ten months reached 9.1 million, down 11%. Despite the decline, electric vehicles took a record share of China's overall passenger-car market because conventional vehicle demand contracted more quickly. Chinese exports of new-energy passenger vehicles approached 600,000, another monthly record.

Markets outside China, Europe and North America expanded fastest from smaller bases. Their combined October sales rose 85% to 300,000, with the ten-month total reaching 2.6 million, up 93%. The figures show a market with sharply different regional paths: rapid European adoption, stabilization in North America, contraction but continued scale in China, and accelerating growth elsewhere.