Europe's Fully Electric Car Sales Jumped 49% in October, as the U.S. Market Stabilized Lower

Global EV sales climbed 8 percent in October, with Europe's battery-electric vehicle sales jumping 49 percent and North America posting its first year-over-year increase of 2026, Electrek reported, citing new data from Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.

Drivers bought 2.09 million EVs worldwide last month. That was down 3 percent from September, but it brought sales for the first 10 months of 2026 to 17.5 million, up 5 percent from the same period last year. Benchmark's figures include both battery-electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids in the passenger-car and light-duty markets.

Europe keeps building, led by Germany and Portugal

Europe sold 510,000 EVs in October, up 36 percent year over year. Fully electric cars did most of the work: BEV sales rose 49 percent, while plug-in hybrids grew 7 percent. That puts October's growth ahead of Europe's 31 percent increase for the year so far. The region has now sold 4.5 million EVs in 2026. Sales fell 17 percent from September's record, but September got a boost from the U.K.'s twice-yearly registration plate change, Electrek reported.

Germany's EV share topped 45 percent of new car sales, its highest level since December 2022, a peak that came as buyers rushed to get cars before subsidy cuts. Fully electric car sales in Germany rose almost 80 percent from a year earlier to more than 95,000. U.K. EV sales increased 30 percent, notable because the Electric Car Grant was already available in October 2025, although fewer models qualified then. In Portugal, EVs accounted for 55 percent of new car sales in October.

A U.S. 'rebound' against a slump, and a weaker China total

North American EV sales rose 24 percent year over year to 130,000 in October, the region's first annual increase of 2026. Sales were flat from September, and the year-to-date decline narrowed to 21 percent, from 24 percent a month earlier. The region has sold 1.3 million EVs so far this year. U.S. EV sales reached around 110,000 units in October.

The catch, Electrek noted, is that October 2025 was the first month after the federal EV tax credit expired for vehicles acquired after Sept. 30, 2025, and sales dropped sharply afterward. "October is the first month compared against a period without the US federal tax credit, and the US market has stabilized at a lower level rather than recovered," said Charles Lester, Benchmark's data manager.

China sold 1.14 million EVs in October, up 5 percent from September but down 12 percent year over year. Sales through October reached 9.1 million, down 11 percent. Even with fewer EVs sold, their share of China's new-car market reached a fresh high, because the wider passenger-car market is shrinking faster. Chinese passenger-car exports of new energy vehicles reached nearly 600,000 in October, another monthly record, up from 558,000 in September. Those exports face more pressure ahead: the EU has agreed to cap imports of Chinese-built hybrids, and China will reduce its EV export VAT rebate from 13 percent to 9 percent starting April 1, 2027, Electrek reported.

Outside China, Europe, and North America, EV sales rose 85 percent year over year to 300,000 in October, and those markets have bought 2.6 million EVs so far in 2026, up 93 percent. The global picture is therefore uneven: Europe is still accelerating, China is selling a larger share of a smaller market, and the United States has stopped falling mainly because last October was so weak.