EVs Outsold Gas Cars In Europe For The First Time, But The Truth Is More Nuanced

Electrified vehicles are no longer playing second fiddle in Europe’s car market. Sales of battery-electric, plug-in hybrid, and traditional hybrid models climbed sharply across the continent last year, while demand for gasoline and diesel vehicles continued to shrink.

Read: One in 10 New Cars Sold in Europe Last Month Was Chinese

The shift picked up real momentum in December, when BEV sales pulled ahead of gas-powered cars for the first time in the European Union, even as policymakers were making plans to ease emissions regulations.

That month, fully electric vehicles made up 22.6 percent of the market, just ahead of petrol’s 22.5 percent share. Hybrids led with 33.7 percent, followed by plug-in hybrids at 10.7 percent. Diesels continued to decline, accounting for 7.2 percent, while alternative powertrains like LPG rounded out the list at 3.3 percent.

Across the European Union, the UK, and members of the European Free Trade Association, including Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland, a total of 13,271,270 new vehicles were sold throughout 2025. That marks a modest but notable 2.4 percent uptick from the previous year. Within that total, BEVs accounted for 2,585,187 sales, a significant 29.7 percent increase over the 1.9 million sold in 2024.

Hybrids Are King

Despite the BEV surge, traditional hybrids took the crown as the continent’s best-selling powertrain last year. A total of 4,566,850 hybrids were sold, reflecting a 12.4 percent increase and pushing them past gasoline-powered cars for the first time.

In 2024, petrol models held a narrow lead with 4,273,880 units sold, but in 2025, that number dropped sharply by 18.9 percent to 3,467,041.

Similarly, demand for diesel cars fell by a considerable 24 percent, down from 1,349,899 to just 1,026,354 units. This allowed plug-in hybrids to overtake diesels, selling a total of 1,272,901, or a 33.4 percent rise from 2024.

December’s numbers laid bare the speed of change. BEV registrations soared to 308,955, up 50.3 percent compared to the same month a year earlier. That was enough to edge out gasoline car sales, which declined 17.7 percent to 254,449. Diesel models also slumped in December, with sales falling 23.1 percent to 73,195.

As in the January-December period, hybrids remained the most popular powertrain choice in December, with sales reaching 380,921, up 4.9 percent. Demand for plug-in hybrids also rose 35.8 percent to 123,460.

The Story Behind the Numbers

While it’s easy to conclude that EVs outsold gas-powered cars entirely in December, that’s not entirely true. These figures from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association include full and mild hybrids in the ‘hybrid electric’ category, which led the industry in sales.

The vast majority of full hybrid and mild hybrids on sale use gas-powered combustion engines, whether that’s to drive the wheels, charge the battery pack, or a combination of both, so it would perhaps be more accurate to lump together hybrid electric and gas-powered vehicles into the same category. If that were the case, they would come out well ahead of BEVs.