The billboard of the petrol station changes its face in a few days, and at the same time the way Europeans look at the car parked outside their house also changes. Since the war with Iran strangled Hormuz and brought oil back to center stage, the cost of filling up has once again occupied the minds of families, corporate fleets and governments. At that passage, almost without noise, the electric car started to climb again. Reuters links the jump in sales to the increase in fuel prices following the conflict. The connection holds on a context level, much less on that of automation: a part of those registrations was probably already part of a commercial chain started before the latest oil surge. The point, therefore, is not to reduce everything to an immediate market reaction, but to observe how the energy shock has put the fragility of dependence on fossil fuels before the eyes of governments, companies and consumers.
The shock touches a raw nerve on the continent. In 2024, the European Union covered 57% of its energy needs with net imports. In the same year, oil and petroleum products accounted for 38% of the available energy mix, and transport absorbed 31% of final energy consumption, with road traffic accounting for almost all of that share. When crude oil jolts, Europe feels the pinch immediately.
The rebound in registrations comes as oil once again dictates the pace of the continent
March has already put down some heavy numbers. In the 15 European EU+EFTA areas monitored by New Automotive and E-Mobility Europe, BEV registrations rose by 51% year-on-year. The new electric cars registered in the month alone exceeded 224 thousand, with a 22% share in the tracked markets and an estimate of 21.2% on an EU scale. In the first quarter, the Member States of the Union exceeded 500 thousand new electric cars, with a growth of 33.5% compared to the same period of the previous year. According to the two bodies, this additional stock is already worth a potential cut of around 2 million barrels of oil per year.
The return of electric vehicles can also be seen in the geography of the market. The five countries that are leading the group – Germany, France, Spain, Italy and Poland – are all traveling above 40% growth since the beginning of the year. Italy, stuck at around 5% share at the end of 2025, rose to 8.6% in March with BEV registrations increasing by 65% since January. Germany is moving forward with around one in four cars registered in March already fully electric and a progress of 42% in the quarter. France remains the largest market ahead, with a 28% share in March and growth close to 50%. In the Nordic countries the picture is even faster: 76.6% in Denmark, almost 50% in Finland, 98.4% in Norway.
Inside those registrations there are not only graphs. There are families re-doing their accounts, companies looking at operating costs and builders trying to understand whether March was a spurt or a warning. This rebound comes after nervous months, and is best understood by looking at the road travelled.
In 2025, electric cars had closed at 17.4% of the EU market, up from 13.6% in 2024, while between January and February 2026 they were already at 18.8%. The market, however, remained full of hesitations. Hybrids continued to occupy first position with 38.7% of registrations between January and February 2026, and above all Brussels had already shown all its ambivalence: manufacturers were given three years, instead of one, to hit the new CO2 targets without fines, and in December 2025 the Commission even put a review on the table that lightens the effective ban on internal combustion engines from 2035, lowering the target to a 90% reduction in tailpipe emissions compared to 2021. Europe wants to protect itself from the next energy shock, but it continues to slow down precisely on the ground that should make it less dependent on oil.
Brussels tries to defend itself from the next price increase
In Brussels, meanwhile, they are trying to cover themselves before the next blow. The Commission is preparing a package that aims to tax electricity less than fossil fuels, encourage the adoption of electric cars and heat pumps, push smart grids and set a European electrification target before the summer. Reuters reports that the logic of the plan is simple: reduce exposure to future oil and gas surges, because hanging on to fossils is increasingly costing the continent.
For years the transition has been hung on big words: climate, industry, strategy. Now it presents itself in a much more concrete form: full tanks, bills, freight transport, geopolitical vulnerability and oil knocking again everywhere. When transport is worth almost a third of European final consumption and oil remains the heaviest brick in the energy mix, every electric vehicle sold takes away a little space from oil in European daily life.
The transition does not yet have the air of a triumphal march: manufacturers continue to ask for flexibility, Brussels continues to oscillate between acceleration and concessions, international competition remains fierce. However, March hinted that when oil bites again, Europe runs towards the outlet. The petrol station sign remains there, lit. And up there you can still see who is holding the leash.
You might also be interested in:
