Scandinavian Countries Lead Europe’s Electric-Car Charge

Scandinavian countries are driving Europe’s shift toward electric cars, with battery-electric vehicles making up 98% of new registrations in Norway and 80% in Denmark from January through July 2026.

Across Europe, battery-electric vehicles accounted for 24% of all new registrations in July. Their average share reached 22% in the first seven months of the year, three percentage points above the 2025 average and five points higher than in the same period last year.

Plug-in hybrids posted a more modest increase. They represented an average 10% of new-car registrations from January through July, up one percentage point from the same period in 2025. Fully hybrid and mild-hybrid vehicles each gained one percentage point, reaching shares of 14% and 24% respectively.

Conventional internal-combustion vehicles accounted for 29% of new registrations during the period. After Norway and Denmark, Finland recorded a 49% battery-electric share, followed by Iceland at 44% and Sweden at 42%.

The list continued with the Netherlands at 38%, Belgium at 37%, Luxembourg at 30%, France at 29%, Germany at 26%, Ireland at 25% and Austria at 25%.