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2026 Q2 saw plugin EVs at 41.4% share in the UK, up from 34.2% in Q2 2025. BEV share grew decently year on year, whilst PHEV share grew modestly. Overall Q2 auto volume was 523,075 units, up some 13% YoY. Tesla was the best-selling BEV brand in Q2.
2026 Q2 auto sales saw combined plugin EVs at 41.4% share in the UK, with full electrics (BEVs) at 28.1% and plugin hybrids (PHEVs) at 13.3%. These figures compare YoY against 34.2% combined, 22.7% BEVs and 11.6% PHEVs.
In volume terms, Q2’s BEV sales were up 40% YoY, to 146,965 units. PHEVs were up by 30% to 69,466 units.
Cumulatively, by the end of Q2, BEV share stood at 25.0% (from 21.6% YoY). PHEVs share stood at 13.0% (from 10.3% YoY). The UK’s legacy industry lobby, the SMMT, is still whining that the “33% ZEV” target for 2026 is going to be “too hard” to meet, and needs watering down. But the reality is that the progress this year in relation to the (now higher) target is only a tiny fraction behind where it was at this point last year (in relation to last year’s lower “28% ZEV” target).
