Electric cars take 28.3% of UK September registrations

Battery electric cars took 28.3% of the UK’s new-car market in September 2026, with 99,201 registrations recorded by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. The total was 36.3% higher than in September last year.

Across the first nine months of 2026, SMMT’s tables show 454,947 battery electric registrations, accounting for 26.16% of the market. September’s share was therefore above the year-to-date figure.

The figures describe cars powered entirely by batteries. Plug-in hybrids and conventional hybrids are recorded separately, as are vans and other vehicle categories. They also cover new registrations, rather than the proportion of all cars already on British roads.

September alone cannot show how demand will develop through the rest of the year. Reading it alongside the cumulative figures gives a broader view than treating a strong registration month as the market’s permanent level.

The charging implications also extend beyond the headline total. Growing EV use creates demand for several kinds of infrastructure: overnight charging near homes, workplace connections and faster stops for longer journeys. A new-car share does not show where those cars will be charged.

SMMT is scheduled to publish October’s new-car figures on 5 November. September is the latest completed month in the tables available for this report.

Sources

• SMMT: UK electric vehicle registrations
• SMMT: 2026 data publication calendar