This is an extract from the report titled “EV Transition Check 2026: Measuring progress toward zeroemissions for road transport in Europe” published by the International Council on Clean Transportation.

Manufacturing targets and battery electric vehicle uptake

Are Manufacturers on track to meet CO2 targets?

Manufacturers of cars and trucks are largely on track to meet the EU’s carbon dioxide (CO2) standards for new vehicles, provided there are continued investments in the transition. For passenger cars, as of June 2026, auto manufacturers were less than 2 g CO2/km short of the average target of 93 g CO2/km for the 2025–2027 period (Figure 1, top right). Electric vehicles are a large part of the compliance strategy. Battery electric passenger cars reached a 22% share among new vehicle registrations in the first half (H1) of 2026, with strong performance in large passenger car markets like France (28% of new registrations) and Germany (26%), as well as several smaller markets like Belgium (36%) and Denmark (80%). Adoption has also picked up in Italy (8%) and Spain (10%; Figure 1, bottom). Not only is the market for new battery electric vehicles (BEVs) picking up, the used BEV market is also gaining momentum. In Germany, BEVs accounted for 5.6% of used car ownership transfers in H1 2026, up from 3.2% in H1 2025. For reference, the share for the full year 2025 was 3.6% (Figure 2).

Looking at data for heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs) from 2024 (the latest available from the European Commission), manufacturers have, on average, complied with the 2025 CO2 emission reduction target of 15% one year early (Figure 3). Buses and coaches are leading the electrification trend, reaching 28% in H1 2026. Sales of battery electric medium trucks and vans (those weighing 3.5–12 tons) grew rapidly as well, more than doubling year-on-year between 2022 and 2025 and reaching 21% of sales in H1 2026. Sales of battery electric heavy trucks (those above 12 tons) nearly doubled from the first quarter (Q1) of 2025 to H1 2026, reaching 2.3% (Figure 3). Germany, the Netherlands, France, and Sweden are currently leading sales volumes of battery electric trucks (BETs).

Vehicle Affordability

What are the trends in vehicle technology affordability?

In Germany, BEV prices decreased by about 18% in real terms—when controlling for vehicle performance and adjusting for inflation—between 2020 and 2025, compared with a 2% increase for combustion engine cars (Figure 4). So, although the nominal median BEV sales price has increased in recent years (+42%), this has been largely driven by a change in vehicle models available in addition to performance improvements such as increased electric ranges (up about 30% in the past 5 years). A large factor behind the 18% cost decrease was a decline in battery costs, the single most expensive component of a BEV. Battery prices globally have fallen by about 35% in the past 5 years. This is reflected in the number of battery electric cars offered on the market: the number of models quadrupled between 2020 and 2025, reaching 159 models in Germany, Europe’s largest vehicle market (Figure 5, left), while the number of internal combustion engine vehicle (ICEV) models decreased in the same time period from 275 to 194. The decline in battery prices is also reflected in the number of affordable BEV models available in the EU (defined as those priced below €30,000), which increased to 35 in 2025 (Figure 5, right). While this is an improvement, the number of BEV models available is still more limited than the number of ICEV models in the affordable small and lower-medium segments. Looking within segments, BEVs have reached upfront price parity with ICEVs for the medium, upper-medium, and luxury segments and within all segments compared with plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs; Figure 6).

Another key aspect of vehicle affordability is running costs. BEVs are cheaper than gasoline ICEVs (33% cheaper in 2025), even for drivers relying exclusively on public charging (−5%) and even prior to the 2026 oil crisis (Figure 7). The report forecasts stable or declining energy costs for BEVs in the future but increasing costs for ICEVs and PHEVs (Figure 7). BEVs are also considerably cheaper to recharge than refueling an ICEV running on e-diesel (about 50%–60% cheaper in the year 2030; Figure 7). Given the limited financial viability and availability of e-fuels (Figure 8), the rest of this transition check therefore focuses on BEVs.

Together, upfront and running costs account for a large part of a vehicle’s total cost of ownership (TCO). This is particularly relevant for BETs, because fleet operators are largely driven by TCO when deciding which vehicles to operationalize in their fleets. In many cases, electric depot-based regional trucks are already cost competitive with diesel alternatives on a TCO basis, partly due to private depot charging prices, the decrease in battery prices, and existing policies. Long-haul segments may be cost competitive as soon as 2030, provided policy levers like CO2 charges and differentiated road tolls are implemented. In Germany, where CO2 charges have already been employed, both regional and long-haul BETs are already cheaper on a TCO basis than diesel trucks (Figure 9).

Charging infrastructure and the power grid

Are Europe’s charging infrastructure and electrical power grid ready for the transition?

The number of public chargers in the EU has grown almost eightfold since 2020, reaching 1.16 million by June 2026, indicating that there are sufficient public chargers for the current EU fleet on the road. Public charging infrastructure is mostly composed of chargers for light-duty vehicles (LDVs), with an additional 2,450 HDV-dedicated chargers (Figure 13). This uptake is in line with the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR) fleet-based targets, with all Member States except Malta exceeding their targets (Figure 14). Regarding highway network coverage (i.e., TEN-T coverage), direct current (DC) chargers with 150 kW of power or more cover 92% of the network and HDV-dedicated chargers cover 16% (Figure 15). Charger distribution among Member States is uneven but consistent with where vehicle markets are largest and EV adoption is strongest: 55% of public chargers are concentrated in the Netherlands, Germany, and France. However, Eastern European countries lead in AFIR fleet-based targets for LDVs (Figure 14).

In June 2026, ad hoc charging rates across the EU were on average €0.50/kWh for alternating current (AC) charging and €0.62/kWh for DC charging, including value-added tax (Figure 16). Although in most cases it is economically advantageous for car owners to switch from an ICEV to a BEV even when relying exclusively on public charging (see the section on vehicle affordability), this is not yet the case for long-haul trucks reliant on public charging. This is because there is a substantial difference between private and public charging rates, with public charging rates about 2 times higher than private rates. As an indication of the potential for lower charging rates across all chargers and segments, conditions enabling smart and bidirectional charging are improving, with 304 dynamic time-of-use tariffs in place as of 2025 and expanding smart meter rollout underway. Reflecting these improvements, 63% of European customers had a smart meter by the end of 2025, although there was significant geographical variation, with smart meters in use by only 5.5% of customers in Germany. These developments can not only lower costs for consumers and the grid but also foster EU energy resilience. The report estimates that there will be a 6% reduction in the European peak power output thanks to smart charging in 2035. Vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology adds further potential for energy resilience, from storing renewable energy and avoiding curtailment to providing movable backup power (e.g., 10% V2G leads to 9% peak load reduction in 2040 in the French case of Essonne).

Access the full report here