Support CleanTechnica's work through a Substack subscription, on Patreon, or on Stripe. Help us produce all of the high-quality, original content we publish week after week despite the challenges of content-scraping AI, antisocial media, inflation, and other hurdles.
The second quarter of 2026 saw plugin EVs take 34.5% share in France, up from 23.9% in Q2 2025. BEV share grew very strongly YoY, while PHEV share was slightly down. Overall Q2 auto volume was 457,688 units, up some 6% YoY. The Tesla Model Y was the best-selling BEV in Q2, just ahead of the Renault 5.
2026 Q2 auto sales saw combined plugin EVs take 34.5% share in France, with full electrics (BEVs) at 28.3% and plugin hybrids (PHEVs) at 6.2%. These figures compare YoY against 23.9% combined, 17.1% BEVs and 6.8% PHEVs.
In volume terms, BEVs were up a massive 75% YoY to 120,479 units, whilst PHEVs were down around 4%, at 28,281 units. This significant BEV boost is partly due to improvements in incentives in 2026, and partly due to soaring fuel prices.
Both petrol-only and diesel-only continue a steep decline (now summing to 17.9% share) with even default powertrains now being HEV or MHEV (some degree of electric assist). As emissions rules tighten (and oil continues to be expensive), these will be replaced by plugins, and eventually almost entirely BEVs.









