Global EV sales climbed 8% in October, with Europe’s battery electric vehicle (BEV) sales jumping 49% and North America posting its first year-over-year increase in 2026. But that North American rebound comes with a big catch.

Drivers bought 2.09 million EVs worldwide last month, according to new data from Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. That’s down 3% from September, but it brings sales for the first 10 months of 2026 to 17.5 million – up 5% from the same period last year.

Benchmark’s figures include both BEVs and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) in the passenger-car and light-duty vehicle markets.

Europe sold 510,000 EVs in October, up 36% year over year. Fully electric cars did most of the work: BEV sales rose 49%, while plug-in hybrids grew 7%.

That puts October’s growth ahead of Europe’s 31% increase for the year so far. The region has now sold 4.5 million EVs in 2026.

Sales fell 17% from September’s record, but September got a boost from the UK’s twice-yearly registration plate change. The year-over-year figures give a clearer view of how quickly the market is growing.

Germany’s EV share topped 45% of new car sales, its highest level since December 2022. That earlier peak came as buyers rushed to get cars before subsidy cuts took effect. Fully electric car sales in Germany rose almost 80% from a year earlier to more than 95,000.

UK EV sales increased 30%. That’s particularly notable because the Electric Car Grant was already available in October 2025, although fewer models qualified then.

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