Electric cars reached 32% of October sales, five points behind petrol

October is the quiet month after the plate change, and this one carried a milestone inside it. Figures published this morning by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders show 152,730 new cars were registered, up 5.4% on October 2025, and 48,858 of them were battery electric, a 32.0% share against petrol's 37.2%. The gap between the two powertrains is now 5.2 percentage points. A year ago it was 19.0.

That is the largest monthly share electric cars have recorded, and it still leaves the year short. Battery electric cars account for 26.6% of registrations in 2026 to date, against the 33% the zero emission vehicle mandate requires. With two months left, the run rate needed to close that gap is higher than any month the UK has managed.

A quiet month that still grew

October was never going to match September's 350,536. It came in at 152,730, or 43.6% of the plate-change month, and still grew 5.4% on last year. Private buyers registered 58,229 cars, up 4.1%, for a 38.1% share that was slightly below last year's 38.6%. Fleets took 89,985, up 5.4% and 58.9% of the market, while the small business segment grew 24.5% to 4,516. The year to date stands at 1,892,000 cars, 9.8% ahead of 2025.

Private demand grew more slowly than fleet demand, and the private share slipped a little. That matters for the mandate, because retail buyers sit outside the company car tax treatment that has pulled fleets towards electric, as we set out in our guide to benefit in kind. A market that grows through fleet volume can hit a manufacturer's target while leaving the retail side of the transition behind, and the split this month shows the two moving at different speeds.

The gap to petrol closes to 5.2 points

Petrol registrations fell 11.6% to 56,876, taking 37.2% of the market against 44.4% a year ago. Diesel fell 15.9% to 5,811 and now accounts for 3.8% of new cars, down from 4.8%. The two combustion fuels together took 41.0% of October.

Electric volume rose 32.7%, the fastest growth of any powertrain, to 48,858 and a 32.0% share from 25.4%. Plug-in hybrids grew 30.1% to 22,898 and a 15.0% share, while hybrids without a plug fell 5.0% to 18,287 and 12.0%. Electrified cars together took 59.0% of the month, a shade above September's record 58.4%.

One comparison makes the shift concrete. Battery electric and plug-in hybrid cars combined accounted for 71,756 registrations. Petrol accounted for 56,876. Cars that can be plugged in outsold petrol-only cars by 14,880, as they did in September, when the plate change pushed the same combined figure to 158,772 against petrol's 131,864.

What November and December have to do

Battery electric registrations for the year stand at 503,805, which is 26.6% of the 1,892,000 cars registered so far. The mandate requires 33% in 2026, and the gap is now the whole story of the final quarter.

In September the SMMT put the final-quarter shortfall at about 265,000 electric cars, worked from its 2.183 million full-year outlook. October has supplied 48,858 of that, leaving roughly 216,000 for November and December, or about 108,000 a month. Work the same arithmetic from the 33% target rather than the SMMT's shortfall and the year needs 720,390 electric cars in total, which leaves 216,585. The two routes land within 500 cars of each other.

September's 99,201 was the highest monthly electric volume the UK has recorded. The rate now required for each of the last two months is above it. That is the arithmetic we set out when the September finals landed, in our piece on what the final quarter had to do, and October has made it harder rather than easier. The mandate's flexibilities, which let manufacturers borrow allowances and trade credits, soften the shortfall without removing it. The design of the target and why the gap has been the central question in its review are covered in our explainer on the mandate gap.

Who moved

Volkswagen held the top of the brand table with 13,687 cars and a 9.0% share, up 4.1%. The closer contest sat lower down. Jaecoo registered 6,089 cars for a 4.0% share, up 113.6%, and BYD registered 6,065 for the same share, up 73.3%. Both outsold Ford, which fell 35.2% to 5,851 and a 3.8% share.

MG grew 85.1% to 7,837 and 5.1% of the month. Chery, the company behind Jaecoo, rose 193.5% to 3,707, and Omoda added 3,137. The pattern is the one we traced in our look at Chinese brands in September, with the difference that the volumes are now large enough to move the monthly order rather than only the growth table.

Ford's month was poor even though its Puma remains the year's best-selling car on 46,295. The Jaecoo 7 topped October's model table on 3,412, with the Puma second on 3,369, and a second Jaecoo, the 5, made the top ten on 2,171. For the year the Puma leads the Jaecoo 7 by 3,410 cars going into the last two months.

What it means for a buyer

Manufacturers chasing a mandate target have reason to push electric deals hardest in the last two months, and this year the pressure is unusually visible in the numbers. The Electric Car Grant takes up to £3,750 off cars listed at or under £37,000, and our list of eligible models shows how much of the market that covers.

Brands with combustion stock to clear and a 2027 target to think about have reason to discount, and the choice within some ranges is narrowing as volume moves to electrified versions. For a private buyer the practical question is the same one the registration table is asking: whether the deal on an electric car in the next eight weeks is better than the deal on the petrol car it would replace. On this month's numbers, a larger share of buyers answered yes than in any month so far.