Electric cars and hybrids: Europeans are buying more of both

The headlines are focusing on the growth in electric car sales in Europe, especially as conflict in the Middle East keeps oil prices high, but the numbers tell a more detailed story: Europeans continue to prefer hybrid cars.

The latest data from the European automobile industry once again confirm the continued importance of renewable ethanol, the most effective way to reduce emissions from the hybrid and petrol cars that EU motorists overwhelmingly favour.

Hybrid vehicles made up 38.2% of new car sales so far in 2026 and “remain the preferred choice of motorists in the EU”, according to ACEA. Sales of plug-in hybrid vehicles, which also run partly on liquid fuel, are also still growing and these cars represented 9.6% of the EU market.

Even as sales of petrol cars decline (now just 22.5% of new cars), petrol and hybrid cars together make up more than 70% of new cars sold in the EU. These vehicles will be on the roads for a long time, and the most immediate and cost-effective way to reduce their greenhouse-gas emissions is with renewable ethanol.

Sales of battery-electric vehicles have increased as well, and represent 19.7% of new EU car registrations.

The need for a more flexible and pragmatic EU approach to de-fossilising road transport has never been clearer. Even beyond 2035, renewable fuels such as ethanol have an important role to play.