Austria registered 40,060 new battery-electric passenger cars during the first half of 2026, a 27% increase from the same period a year earlier, according to data released by Statistik Austria.
Battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) accounted for 24.3% of all new passenger car registrations between January and June, placing them just behind gasoline-powered cars in market share.
EV Market Continues to Expand
In June alone, Austria recorded 8,993 new battery-electric vehicle registrations, up 44% year-on-year.
The increase lifted the monthly BEV market share to 26.3%, marking the first time fully electric cars accounted for more than one-quarter of monthly passenger car registrations in the country.
Austria’s overall passenger car market also expanded during the first six months of the year, with total registrations rising 15% year-on-year to 164,529 vehicles. June registrations increased 22.9% to 34,256 units.
Manuela Lenk, Director General of Statistical Methods at Statistik Austria, said alternative powertrains continued to gain momentum.
“The upward trend in new passenger car registrations has now persisted for a full year and gained further momentum in June 2026.”
Alternative Powertrains Dominate Registrations
Statistik Austria reported 107,836 newly registered passenger cars with alternative powertrains during the first half of the year, representing a 27% increase from the previous year.
Alongside the 40,060 battery-electric vehicles, registrations included 60,910 gasoline hybrid vehicles, up 33.5%, and 6,864 diesel hybrids, down 10.7%. Two hydrogen-powered passenger cars were also registered during the period.
By comparison, registrations of conventional gasoline-powered vehicles remained largely unchanged at 40,509 units, while diesel registrations declined 8.3% to 16,184 vehicles.
Gasoline hybrids accounted for the largest market share at 37.0%, followed by gasoline vehicles at 24.6% and battery-electric models at 24.3%.
Private Buyers Show Higher EV Adoption
Private buyers represented 35.8% of new passenger car registrations during the first half of the year, while companies, public authorities and other organizations accounted for the remaining 64.2%.
Among private customers, battery-electric vehicles represented 34% of registrations, exceeding the overall market average.
Tesla Leads BEV Brand Rankings
Tesla was the leading battery-electric vehicle brand in Austria during the first six months of 2026, capturing a 10.6% share of the BEV market.
Škoda followed closely with 10.5%, ahead of BMW at 9.9% and BYD at 9.8%.
Among the leading manufacturers, Kia recorded the strongest year-on-year growth in battery-electric registrations at 112%, followed by Škoda at 63% and Mercedes-Benz at 57%.