Quick answer: “EVs are 25% of new car sales” and “EVs are 5% of cars on the road” can both be true. The first is a flow: what buyers purchased during a defined period. The second is a stock: how many cars remain in the vehicle fleet at a point in time. A rapidly growing new-car share does not immediately replace the much larger number of vehicles already in use.
According to the International Energy Agency’s Global EV Outlook 2026, more than 20 million electric cars were sold worldwide in 2025, representing about one-quarter of new car sales. Yet electric cars represented approximately 5% of the global passenger-car stock. These percentages describe different denominators; they are not contradictory. The IEA’s electric-car figures include battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs).
EV sales share versus EV stock share: the two equations
New-sales share (%) = new electric-car sales ÷ all new car sales × 100. A 25% result means one in four newly sold cars in that defined market and period was electric.
Vehicle-stock share (%) = electric cars currently in the fleet ÷ all cars currently in the fleet × 100. A 5% result means about one in twenty existing cars in the measured fleet was electric, even though the latest year’s new buyers favored EVs more strongly.
The comparison requires consistent geographic boundaries, vehicle classifications and time periods. A figure for all passenger cars should not be compared directly with one for all cars plus vans and trucks.
An original worked example: 40% of sales, only 8.5% of the fleet
Imagine a hypothetical city begins the year with 100,000 registered passenger cars, including 5,000 EVs. During the year, 10,000 new cars are sold, including 4,000 EVs. The city’s new-sales EV share is 40%.
Now suppose 10,000 cars leave the fleet, including 500 EVs. At year-end, the fleet still has 100,000 vehicles, but the number of EVs is 5,000 + 4,000 − 500 = 8,500. The EV fleet share is therefore 8.5%, not 40%.
This example is an original arithmetic illustration; it is not official data for any city. It deliberately includes vehicle retirements, because annual sales alone do not tell you the ending composition of the fleet. Cars entering from other regions, exports, scrappage, classification changes and other movements can also matter.
What the IEA’s 2025 numbers say
In its 2026 review, the IEA reports that electric cars reached about 25% of worldwide new-car sales in 2025 while accounting for around 5% of the global fleet. The report also identifies Norway’s electric-car sales share at approximately 97% in 2025, while more than one-third of cars already on Norway’s roads were electric. The example shows that even markets with exceptionally high new-sale adoption still have older non-electric vehicles in circulation.
These are 2025 observations from a 2026 publication, not a prediction of 2026 results. Forecasts or early-2026 estimates elsewhere in the same report should be labeled separately.
Four questions to ask before publishing a market-share headline
1. Does “electric” mean BEV only, or BEV plus PHEV?
Definitions change the numerator. The IEA’s global electric-car grouping includes BEVs and PHEVs. Some national registration releases report BEVs alone; others include conventional hybrids in broader “electrified” categories, which are not equivalent. For an explanation, read our BEV, PHEV and hybrid market-share guide.
2. What is in the denominator?
“Share of new cars” is not “share of every vehicle.” The European Alternative Fuels Observatory explicitly separates new registrations, market share of registrations and vehicle-fleet share. It also provides different vehicle categories. Make the category and market explicit before comparing countries.
3. Is the figure monthly, annual or a snapshot?
A particularly strong month can produce a striking percentage that differs from the calendar-year figure. Likewise, the number of vehicles on the road is usually measured at a specific reference date. The data series should identify its exact observation period and update date.
4. Is a forecast being treated as an actual result?
A forecast for the full year is not a completed-year statistic. The IEA’s 2026 study contains 2025 outcomes as well as estimates for 2026. The headline should never silently substitute one for the other.
Percentage points are not percent growth
If EV sales share rises from 5% to 6%, the increase is 1 percentage point, or 20% relative growth in share (because 1 ÷ 5 = 20%). Writing “up 20 percentage points” would be mathematically wrong. Similarly, a 20% increase in EV unit sales is not automatically a 20-percentage-point increase in market share if total car sales also change.
Why this matters for drivers, infrastructure planners and insurers
New-car sales share measures the speed at which buyers are adopting EVs. Fleet share describes how prevalent EVs are in existing traffic and has different implications for vehicle servicing, insurance exposure, parking and the installed charging base. Charger planning still requires local geography, vehicle usage and charging access: neither national percentage by itself tells a city exactly how many charging ports to build.
For actual market reporting, our global 2025 electric-car sales overview, Norway monthly sales report, and Türkiye monthly sales report give separate examples of narrowly defined periods. Keep each headline tied to its exact source and denominator.
Methodology and primary sources
The IEA numbers above refer to its 2026 edition’s reporting of calendar year 2025 observations. The fictional-city math is designed to illustrate the difference between a stock and a flow, not to estimate a real country. The IEA Global EV Outlook 2026: Trends in Electric Cars provides the new-sales and stock distinction; the European Alternative Fuels Observatory provides registration and fleet categories; the UK Department for Transport’s 2025 vehicle licensing statistics is an example of a national source reporting both first registrations and the licensed vehicle stock.
Cover photograph: two BMW i3 electric cars at a car park in Oslo, by Mariordo / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, unmodified.
Sık Sorulan Sorular
Why is EV new-car market share higher than EV fleet share?
New-car share covers sales in a recent period, while fleet share includes all existing passenger cars, many sold before electric cars became popular.
Did EVs account for 25% of all cars worldwide in 2025?
No. The IEA reported that EVs were around one-quarter of new-car sales in 2025 but approximately 5% of the global car stock.
Does the IEA count plug-in hybrids as electric cars?
Yes. In the cited Global EV Outlook, the electric-car category includes battery-electric cars and plug-in hybrids, so an EV-only BEV figure will differ.
What is the difference between percentage points and percent growth?
An increase from 5% to 6% is 1 percentage point and also 20% relative growth in the share, not a 20-percentage-point increase.
