Electric car statistics and data 2026: UK insights and global trends

Electric vehicles (EVs) are now well and truly mainstream options in the new car market. But there’s still a long way to go before electric power overtakes petrol or diesel power in every new car and van market across the world.

With the European Union relaxing its 2035 ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars with new emissions rules, are we going to see a change of course?

Our electric car guide analyses the growth of the EV market with all the key electric vehicle data and projections, including UK market insights and global statistics.

How many electric cars are being sold in 2026? Latest figures

• 29.654 new electric cars were registered in January 2026. That's 0.1% down on the same period in 2025.

• That sees EV market share drop from previous months in 2025, down to 20.57% of the new car market.
• Electric cars are still more popular than hybrid, plug-in hybrid and diesel cars, however.
• 17,767 new electric vans were registered in January - a 7.3% drop on January 2025.
• "January dip" comes despite forecasts for EV growth by the end of 2026, according to SMMT's Chief Executive.

(Data from SMMT)

UK electric vehicle statistics – How many EVs were sold last year?

• In the UK, 473,348 electric cars were sold in 2025. That marks a 23.9% increase over 2024.
• Electric car market share sits at 23.4% of the total new car market in the UK, up from 18.7% in 2024. It’s the second largest share of fuel type after petrol cars (46%).
• With the Zero Emission Vehicle mandate setting a 28% EV sales target share for manufacturers in 2025, car companies fell short of meeting it.
• Plug-in hybrid (PHEV) cars made up 11.1% of the new car market in 2025, up nearly 35% from 2024.
• For electric vans, 27,789 EVs below 3.5 tonnes have been sold in 2025. That’s a 35.5% increase over 2024.
• Electric van market share in the UK sits at 8.7%, with diesel still dominating the sector at 84.7%.
• Used electric car sales continue to grow, with nearly 275,000 transactions in 2025 marking a 45.7% increase.
• There are over 1,850,000 fully electric cars on UK roads, which makes up around 5.4% of the roughly 34 million cars on UK roads.

(Data from SMMT, ZapMap)

UK's most popular electric cars in 2025: Top 10

Tesla retained its dominance in the UK electric car market for 2025, according to the latest data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

Full registration figures for the year have been released, showing that the number of cars Tesla registered is a long way ahead of competitors from Audi, Ford, BMW and Skoda.

The full chart can be found here:

Global electric vehicle statistics – what are the biggest markets for EVs in the world?

• Global electric vehicle sales surpassed 20 million units in 2025, up from 17.3 million in 2024.
• China is by far the biggest market for electric vehicles. In 2025, EVs exceeded 50% market share for the first time, making up two-thirds of global EV sales.
• China produces more than 70% of the world’s electric vehicles, making it comfortably the world’s biggest EV manufacturing hub.
• 8.1 million electric cars were sold in China alone in 2025, along with 5.07 million PHEVs.
• Norway has by far the largest EV market share, with electric vehicles making up nearly 96% of new car sales in 2025.
• In Sweden, 63% of new cars sold in 2025 were fully electric, while in Denmark that figure grew massively to 68%.
• The European Union as a whole recorded 3,881,325 electric vehicle sales in 2025, a 31% improvement on 2024.
• In 2025, EV sales in the United States fell slightly year-on-year to 1.3 million units. The removal of the federal EV tax credit saw record EV sales in Q3 (before the credit ended) and a huge 48% decline in December.

(Data from Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, EV Volumes, International Energy Agency, Cox Automotive)

• 2030 ban – is it worth buying an electric car now?
• The road to electric – in charts and data
• Types of electric vehicles – EVs explained
• Are electric cars really better for the environment?
• Breakdown cover for electric and hybrid cars 

EV charging infrastructure in the UK: Key stats and data

• There were 88,513 electric vehicle charging points in operation across the UK at the end of January 2026. That’s up 19% on January 2025.
• These are split across 45,242 locations, with 122,690 total connectors available.
• 14,097 new EV charge points were installed across the UK in 2025. The majority of these (6,951) were ‘slow’ chargers putting out less than 8kW.
• Rapid chargers (with 50-149kW output) make up 8,087 of the total chargers as of January 2026, with Ultra-rapid (150kW and above) numbers up to 9,990.
• There are 40% more Ultra-rapid (150kW+) EV charging points in January 2026 than in January 2025.
• The top three biggest Rapid or Ultra-rapid charging networks are Instavolt (2,178 charging points as of January 2026), Tesla (2,167) and Osprey (1,429).
• The South East of England has the largest share of these chargers with 2,600, followed by the North West with 2,029 and the East of England with 1,979.

(Data: Zapmap)

New electric car statistics: Are EVs getting better and cheaper in 2026?

• There is more choice than ever in the electric car market, with over 150 new electric models to choose from in the UK – from budget city cars to luxury SUVs.
• The average cost of a new electric car in the UK is around £46,000 – but the choice of EVs that cost under £30,000 new has substantially grown.
• The average range of an electric car in 2026 is around 300 miles, up from 235 miles in 2024.
• The longest range electric car on sale is the new BMW iX3, which promises up to 500 miles on a single charge depending on trim.
• The cheapest electric car on sale is the Dacia Spring, now priced at just £12,240 including Dacia’s own Electric Car Grant discount.
• The Tesla Model Y was still the best-selling electric car in Europe in 2025 with over 150,000 examples registered.
• The second and third most popular electric cars are the Skoda Elroq and Renault 5/Alpine A290 (combined sales for both cars).