Electric car sales in Europe, on a revealing map with a devastating peninsula. Spoiler: it is not the Ibérica
If tomorrow your car breaks down and you have to buy a new one, the million dollar question is: Would it be a combustion car, a hybrid or an electric car? Obviously, there is also another respectable alternative that makes a lot of sense in the face of a future full of uncertainty and skyrocketing prices: bet on second hand (however, the question remains the same). Saying goodbye to old combustion and welcoming electricity (in any form) is a complex issue where factors such as tax policies, infrastructure and income come into play. The transition to electric has been here for a long time, but it is not advancing in the same way throughout the continent. The map you see below these lines represents the percentage of new electric car registrations in Europe in 2025which includes pure electric and plug-in. Another important consideration: it only collects new cars, not the existing fleet, that is another much more modest story where electric cars currently represent only around 5%. Its creation is the work of The World in Maps, an informative project specialized in cartographies and infographics. To prepare it, use the report Global EV Outlook 2026 from the International Energy Agency (IEA), published in 2026, that is, the world reference report on electric mobility. Electric cars (EV and PHEV) registered in 2025. AIE On the old continent, sales of electric cars (EV + PHEV) increased by 30% last year, above the global trend, which grew by 20% to exceed 20 million units. That is to say, if in the world one in four cars is electric, in Europe it is almost one in three. In fact, Europe has surpassed China as the fastest growing electric car market, with notable increases in Germany, Spain and Italy. But the colorful map suggests a very heterogeneous panorama on the continent and part of the blame lies with state policies: public support for electric vehicles, in the form of direct subsidies, tax incentives and tariff exemptions, has been progressively decreasing in the last decade as sales have increased, although Denmark, Norway and Turkey continue to have the most favorable scenarios due to their strong tax exemptions. A Europe at two speeds Electric Europe is made up of the Nordic countries and the Netherlands, where the highest quotas are concentrated: Norway (97%), Denmark (71%), Sweden (61%) and Iceland (62%). The recipe for success is a high per capita income, strong taxation on fossil fuels, historic exemptions for electricity and a highly developed charging network. Norway takes the cake, where fully electric cars reached a record share of 96% of all car sales in 2025, although from 2026 the tax advantages have been cut. The Europe of fuel comes from the east, with Russia (2%), Bosnia (5%), Romania and Bulgaria (6%) as markets where the electric car has barely penetrated, conditioned by lower purchasing power, scarce charging infrastructure and absence of relevant tax incentives. In fact, Croatia, Greece and much of the Balkans move in similar figures, between 5% and 15%. This ancient Europe lives under the restraint of increasingly strict EU regulations. These data matter because road transport is one of the major sources of emissions of carbon dioxide in Europe and the speed of electrification attacks it directly, stepping on the accelerator towards achieving the EU’s climate objectives. But it also has industrial implications: the automotive sector, a true historical bastion on the continent, is adapting and planning based on demand. The jump to electric also has its economic and geopolitical reading where one country leads the way: China. In Xataka | Europe’s passenger car industry, in a revealing map that makes it clear who is the real “engine” of the EU In Xataka | All the car plants in Europe (including the few battery-electric ones), on a map Cover | The World in maps
