France, Spain and Italy: why Europe's EV sales moved at three very different speeds in October

Three of Western Europe's biggest car markets have released their October 2026 numbers, and the picture could hardly be more uneven. In France, almost two in every five new cars are now fully electric. In Spain, battery-electric sales are growing faster than ever. In Italy, the EU's second-largest car market, EVs barely clear 6%. Same continent, same CO2 rules, very different outcomes.

France: battery-electric cars are closing in on hybrids

According to analytics firm AAA Data, France registered 61,958 fully electric passenger cars in October, a 41% market share. A year earlier the figure was 24%. All hybrid types combined took 44%, so pure EVs are only three points away from the top spot. The overall market grew 7% to 149,341 cars despite having one working day fewer than October 2025, according to PFA, the French auto industry body.

The buyer mix matters: EVs made up 45% of private purchases and 46% of fleet registrations, so this is no longer just a company-car story. The month's top sellers were all from French brands: Renault Twingo (4,747), Renault 5 (4,666), the electric Peugeot 208 (3,221), Renault Scenic (3,037) and Citroën ë-C3 (2,736). Year to date, France has registered nearly 450,000 new EVs, a 32% share.

Money helps explain it. France relaunched its "social leasing" scheme in July 2026, targeting around 50,000 electric cars at no more than €200 a month for lower-income households, and energy-saving certificates (CEE) can give vulnerable households up to €5,700 toward a new EV.

Spain: growth of more than 80%

Spain's carmakers' association ANFAC reported on November 2 that battery-electric passenger car sales jumped 81.2% in October to 16,425 units. Plug-in hybrids grew more slowly, up 15.8% to 14,619. Together, plug-in passenger cars reached 31.5% of the market, almost one in three new cars sold.

Based on ANFAC's figures, our own calculation puts pure EVs at roughly 17% of new passenger cars. That is well below France, but the growth rate is the fastest of the three countries. From January to October, Spain sold more than 248,000 electrified passenger cars, 37.6% more than in the same period last year.

Italy: the market grows, EVs stall

Italy's overall market rose 4.8% to 131,921 passenger cars. But UNRAE, the association of foreign brand importers, called the EV result "disconcerting": just 6.1% of registrations, down from 7.6% in September, though up from 5% in October last year. Plug-in hybrids, meanwhile, climbed to 12.7% from 7.4% a year ago.

UNRAE notes that private buyers accounted for 54% of EV sales, while company fleets, which drive the transition elsewhere, are largely missing. The group is asking the government in Rome for tax measures on company cars and warns that without them Italy will lose appeal for investment. Year to date, Italy's battery-electric share stands at 7.8%.

Why the gap is so wide

All three countries face the same European CO2 targets, but they differ in three areas: purchase support, company-car taxation and the availability of affordable models. France has all three, plus home-grown brands with EVs under €25,000. Spain is catching up quickly. Italy has plenty of private buyers but no stable support, and businesses prefer plug-in hybrids.

What it means for drivers

For anyone shopping for an EV, France is an encouraging signal: when small, affordable cars like the Twingo and Renault 5 arrive, demand comes from ordinary households, not just fleets. Higher volumes mean bigger production runs and, over time, better prices across Europe.

Italy shows the opposite lesson: stable, predictable incentives matter as much as the cars themselves. It is also worth watching the used market. In France, used EV transactions rose almost 43% in October, which means more affordable second-hand EVs will gradually flow into other European countries too.