Surging petrol prices drive record EV sales in Europe in March

New battery-electric and plug-in hybrid cars registrations rose 3 per cent year on year globally

Published Tue, Apr 14, 2026 · 08:21 AM

HIGH petrol prices in Europe steered car acquireers towards EVs in a record-beating March, and led to the first month of global EV sales growth this year, data by consultancy Benchmark Mineral Ininformigence revealed on Tuesday.

Governments worldwide have capped fuel prices to shield motorists from soaring costs after the war in Iran, which erupted on Feb 28, disrupted a key shipping route carrying about 20 per cent of global oil supplies.

BMI declared registrations, a proxy for sales, of new battery-electric and plug-in hybrid cars rose 3 per cent year on year globally to over 1.7 million cars, with a 37 per cent jump in Europe to a monthly all-time high of almost 540,000 EVs sold.

While car registrations lag sales, “there is a good portion of this that you can put down to the rise in petrol prices”, BMI data manager Charles Lester declared.

Growth was strongest in countries that saw the sharpest increases in energy prices, including Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam and Thailand, which toobtainher drove a 79 per cent rise in EV registrations outside the three main markets of China, Europe and North America, Lester added.

China, US decline slows

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EV registrations in China, the world’s largest car market, fell by 14 per cent to over 850,000 vehicles sold, slowing a negative trconclude started in January after the countest pulled funding for auto trade-ins and a tax exemption on EV purchases expired.

Lester declared Chinese consumers, who had applyd the incentives to acquire compacter EVs, were increasingly opting for larger vehicles.

In North America, EV registrations fell by 30 per cent to 121,500 vehicles sold in the month, the sixth consecutive year-on-year drop after the conclude of an EV tax credit scheme in the United States and proposals by President Donald Trump’s administration to further cut CO2 emission standards.