Germany's Battery-Electric Share Hits Record 37% in October, KBA Data Show
German BEV registrations reached 94,086 in October 2026 — 37% of all new cars — overtaking petrol and diesel combined for a second month, Electrek reported from KBA figures.
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Germany's battery-electric vehicles took a record 37% share of new car registrations in October 2026, according to Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) figures reported by Electrek. BEVs logged 94,086 registrations, up 79.5% year on year, out of 254,492 total new cars (+1.7%). Electrek said it was the second month in a row that BEVs outsold petrol and diesel combined.
This piece is about the overall market mix — not Tesla's unit count. For Tesla's nearly quadrupled German registrations in the same month, see our earlier KBA roundup.
Combustion still falling
Electrek's KBA rundown put petrol at 38,516 registrations (−40.5% YoY, 15.1% share) and diesel at 23,882 (−21.6%, 9.4%). Combined combustion sat at about 24.5% of the market. Plug-in hybrids were 28,499 (−7.9%, 11.2%), so all plug-ins together were roughly 48% of October registrations. Average CO₂ for new cars fell to 79.4 g/km (−21.1%).
Private registrations rose 20.6%, Electrek reported, helped by a €3,000 incentive (€6,000 for lower-income buyers with children).
Year-to-date already past the old full-year forecast
From January through October, Electrek said BEVs reached 698,230 registrations (+60.7%) out of 2,476,290 total cars — about 28.2% share. That BEV tally has already passed the VDA's previous full-year forecast of roughly 693,000; Electrek's tracking implied a pace toward about 875,000 BEVs by year end if current trends hold. Those are Electrek's extrapolations from KBA data, not a new official VDA target.
Brands in the mix
On the same dataset, piloly posted on X: "Germany reported 2,932 Tesla sales and 1.2% market share in October. BEV penetration reaches new record of 37% and Tesla has 3.1% of this segment. 🇩🇪"
Electrek also noted BYD's year-to-date German volume at 47,961 versus Tesla's 47,742, with the VW Group — led in the charts by the Skoda Elroq — still heading the EV leaderboard. Brand rankings can move month to month; treat them as KBA-derived figures via Electrek, not investment advice.
Whether October's 37% BEV share becomes the new floor will only be clear once November and December KBA releases land.