Sales of fully electric cars in Europe’s main auto markets jumped by almost a third in the first quarter of 2026, as ​drivers looked for alternatives to combustion engines after the war in Iran ‌caused the highest spike in petrol prices in years.

New battery-electric vehicle (BEV) registrations, a proxy for sales, rose 29.4% from a year ago to almost 560,000 in the ​quarter and were up 51.3% at over 240,000 in March alone ​in 15 European markets, data collected by trade association E-Mobility ⁠Europe and research firm New Automotive showed on Monday.

Last year, those markets ​accounted for 94% of all BEV sales in the European Union and ​the European Free Trade Association, whose countries align with EU laws regulating CO2 emissions, data by the ACEA auto lobby shows.

“March’s surge in electric car sales is one ​of Europe’s biggest recent gains in energy security, in a month when ​oil dependence has become a real vulnerability,” E-Mobility Europe Secretary General Chris Heron said ‌in ⁠a statement.

The joint statement from the two organisations said the half-million BEVs registered in the quarter were enough to reduce oil consumption by 2 million barrels per year.

The region’s five largest EV markets - Germany, France, Spain, Italy ​and Poland - have ​recorded growth of ⁠more than 40% in BEV sales so far this year, it said. It is estimated that 21.2% of all ​new cars registered in the EU and EFTA in ​March were ⁠electric.

In a separate report published earlier in April, New Automotive said BEV registrations in Britain, Europe’s second-biggest BEV market after Germany, grew 12.8% in the ⁠quarter, also ​helped by rising petrol prices, and accounted ​for 22.5% of new car sales in the country.