Electric cars have never been this close to overtaking petrol in the UK. In October, battery electric models made up 32% of new car registrations, while petrol dropped to 37.2%, according to the latest figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). That's a gap of just over five points, the smallest there has ever been between the two.
With more EVs being sold new, more are also turning up on the used market. If you're thinking about buying a second-hand electric car, put the registration through a car check before you pay anything.
It will tell you if the car has been written off, reported stolen or still has outstanding finance. EVs can be expensive to repair after an accident, so it's worth knowing if the car has a previous write-off history.
October's numbers
The UK new car market grew 5.4% in October to 152,730 registrations. That's 11 months of growth in a row.
All of that growth came from cars with a plug. Battery electric registrations rose 32.7% to 48,858, and plug-in hybrids were up 30.1% to 22,898. Everything else went backwards. Petrol fell 11.6% to 56,876, diesel dropped 15.9% and regular hybrids slipped 5%.
For the year so far, 503,805 electric cars have been registered in the UK. That's up 30.4% on last year and gives EVs a 26.6% share of the market. Petrol's share for the year is 41.1%, down from 47.2% at the same point in 2025.
So when does electric overtake petrol?
It depends how you look at it.
In March 2024, petrol had 55.9% of the market and EVs had 15.2%. Since then petrol has been losing about half a point of share a month, while EVs have been gaining around a third of a point. Analysis by Electrek found that if you simply carry those lines on, they meet around August 2027, with each at about 33%.
The straight-line view misses December, though. EV share always jumps at the end of the year as manufacturers push sales to get closer to their targets. It reached 31.0% in December 2024 and 32.2% in December 2025. Over the last five months, EV share has been running about five points higher than a year earlier, and petrol about seven points lower. If December follows the same pattern, EVs would end up at around 37% and petrol at around 32%. That would be the first month ever that electric cars outsold petrol in the SMMT's headline figures.
The SMMT isn't quite so bullish. It expects EVs to finish 2026 at 27.2% of the market, which works out at roughly 31% across November and December. That would make it much tighter.
It's also worth knowing that the SMMT counts mild hybrids as petrol or diesel. If you put mild hybrids in with the other hybrids instead, electric cars were already the UK's most popular type of new car back in August.
Looking at whole years shows how quickly things have moved. In 2021, cars that ran only on petrol or diesel (mild hybrids included) made up 72.5% of new sales. This year they're at 45.5%.
Carmakers still want targets cut
Despite the growth, the SMMT is using the figures to ask the government again to water down the ZEV mandate. The rules say 33% of new cars sold in 2026 should be zero-emission. The SMMT now expects 27.2%. For 2027 it forecasts 32% against a 38% target, and for 2028 it predicts 37.5% against a target of 52%.
The trade body says manufacturers have spent billions on discounts, 0% finance, deposit contributions and even free charging to sell EVs, on top of the government's Electric Car Grant. It has also criticised last week's Budget, which confirmed a new road tax for EVs (eVED) from 2028 and left VAT on public charging at 20%.
SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said: "Higher targets may force supply, but they do not create demand."
Not everyone agrees. Supporters of the mandate argue that the discounts are exactly what it was meant to achieve: carmakers price EVs to sell, and buyers respond. The government already opened a review of the mandate earlier this year.
Chinese brands are leading the charge
Much of the growth is coming from Chinese manufacturers. BYD registered 6,065 cars in October, up 73%. Jaecoo more than doubled to 6,089, Chery nearly tripled to 3,707 and Leapmotor doubled to 1,773. MG was up 85%.
Tesla had a quiet month, with just 282 registrations, down from 511 a year earlier. That isn't unusual, because the first month of each quarter is always slow for Tesla in the UK. The brand is still up 31% for the year at 46,526 cars. But for once it had no models in October's EV top ten, which was led by the Skoda Enyaq (1,568), the MINI Countryman Electric (1,494) and the Jaecoo 5 (1,465).
What it means if you're buying
For new car buyers, the fight to hit targets is good news. Manufacturers need to sell EVs, so the deals are there, especially towards the end of the year.
It matters for used buyers too. All these cars will start coming back as two and three-year-old used cars, many of them ex-fleet or ex-lease. That should mean more choice and lower prices. Just make sure you know what you're buying. Ask for a battery health report, check the service history and run a full history check before you hand over any money.
