Nearly a Third of New Cars Sold in the UK in October Were Fully Electric

The UK's EV market is surging. According to New AutoMotive, 49,155 battery-electric cars were registered in October, up 53.7% from a year earlier and 31.8% of new car registrations, making BEVs the most popular fuel type for the month.

Motor Trade News reports this brings UK electric car registrations for 2026 to more than 522,000, up 27.3%, a 26.5% year-to-date share that New AutoMotive says is ahead of the ZEV Mandate's estimated effective target of 24.6%. Battery-electric van registrations rose 53.3% to 3,376.

InsideEVs says Kia, BMW, Volkswagen and BYD led the October electric market, while Tesla slumped after a big September but remains first year to date with a 9.53% share of the BEV market. Official SMMT figures for October had not been published in the sources reviewed.