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Europe battery-electric car sales rose 49% in October, data shows
Benchmark Mineral Intelligence said global EV sales rose 8% in October, led by a 49% jump in Europe's fully electric cars, Electrek reported.
- electrek.co is now reporting this
- New headline Was: “Europe's electric car sales jump 49% as global EV sales grow”
- Our desk filed its story
Buyers took 2.09 million electric vehicles worldwide in October, up 8% from a year earlier, according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence data reported by Electrek1.
The tally was 3% below September and brought January-through-October sales to 17.5 million, up 5% from the same stretch in 20251.
Benchmark's figures cover battery-electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids in passenger cars and light-duty vehicles1.
Europe sold 510,000 EVs in October, up 36% year over year1. Fully electric cars accounted for most of that gain: battery-electric sales rose 49%, while plug-in hybrids rose 7%1. The region has sold 4.5 million EVs so far in 2026, a 31% increase from a year earlier1.
October volume in Europe fell 17% from September, which Electrek said was a record month boosted by the United Kingdom's twice-yearly registration-plate change1. Germany's EV share of new-car sales topped 45%, its highest since December 2022, and fully electric sales there rose almost 80% to more than 95,000, Electrek reported1. UK EV sales increased 30%, and EVs accounted for 55% of new-car sales in Portugal in October1.
China sold 1.14 million EVs in October, down 12% from a year earlier and up 5% from September1. Year-to-date Chinese sales were 9.1 million, down 11%1. Electrek said EV share of China's new-car market still reached a new high because the broader passenger-car market shrank faster1. Passenger-car exports of new energy vehicles from China reached nearly 600,000 in October, a monthly record after 558,000 in September1.
North America sold 130,000 EVs in October, up 24% year over year and flat from September, the region's first year-over-year increase in 20261. Year-to-date sales were 1.3 million, down 21%1. U.S. sales were around 110,000 in October1. Electrek noted the comparison is against October 2025, the first month after the U.S. federal EV tax credit ended for vehicles acquired after Sept. 30, 2025, when sales dropped sharply1.
Sales in the rest of the world rose 85% year over year to 300,000, with 2.6 million sold so far in 2026, up 93%1. Australia's October sales jumped more than 200%, though Benchmark said more brands, many of them Chinese, are squeezing dealer margins1. Brazil's growth was also large; Benchmark cited imports ahead of tariff increases, a fuel crisis, and higher BYD production there1.
