EVs Made Up Nearly A Third Of UK Sales As Europe's Electric Boom Continues

Fully electric cars outsold gasoline and hybrid models in October, as UK EV registrations surged 54% from a year earlier.

Photo by: Tesla

By: Nico DeMattia

Nov 4, at 2:34pm ET

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EVs continue to boom in Europe.
In the UK, nearly one in three cars sold last month was battery-powered.
Germany posted big gains as high gas prices drive demand for electric cars.

While EV sales are growing slowly in the U.S., despite the loss of federal tax incentives, they're exploding in the UK. According to UK's car industry lobby New Automotive, 49,155 new fully battery-electric vehicles (BEV) were sold in October. That's not only a massive 54% increase over last October, but it's 32% of the UK's new car market share, or almost a third.

That 32% market share also gave EVs the largest market share of any one fuel type, more than gas, diesel, or hybrids. "Almost one in three new cars sold in October was fully electric, more than any other fuel type, and electric car sales are up by more than half on last year," said Ben Nelmes, CEO at New AutoMotive. "Drivers are voting with their wallets. Every one of those new electric cars means a household spending less on running costs, and a country less exposed to the oil price shock."

There's more EV variety in the UK than there is in America. The UK has access to EVs from brands like Renault, Peugeot, Fiat, Volkswagen, Skoda, and even Chinese EVs like BYD and Jaecoo. Last month, Kia, BMW, Volkswagen, and BYD led the country's electric market. Tesla slumped after a big September.

2027 Kia EV3

Photo by: Tim Levin/InsideEVs

Year-to-date, though, Tesla is number one, with 9.53% market share. That's up 25.4% from last year, too. Kia took second place, with 6.9% market share, and BYD came in third, with 6.8%. What's surprising is that no European EV brands were in the top three, despite being in their home continent. I'd sell a non-essential organ for a Renault 5 E-Tech, so I'm surprised to see cars like that not taking top spots in the UK.

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It isn't just new EVs, either. The UK is also seeing a jump in used EVs, just like we are here. According to EV Powered, data shows that more and more UK customers are shopping for used EVs.

The run up in oil costs is driving record EV sales across Europe. BEVs took 37% share of the car market in Germany, the country's road traffic agency said, with over 94,000 vehicles sold. That's a nearly 80% increase year over year.