September is the UK’s second big registration month of the year, thanks to the new-plate change, and this year it delivered a record for cars with a plug. Figures reported by Electrek from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) put battery-electric registrations at 99,199 for the month, a 36.3% jump on last September and 28.3% of the market. Plug-in hybrids did even better in percentage terms: 59,563 registrations, up 55.7%, for a record 17.0% share.
Added together, that is 158,762 plug-in cars, or 45.3% of a market that totalled 350,518 registrations (up 12.1%). Petrol, by comparison, fell 6.7% to 131,861 cars. For anyone shopping on our UK market page, the message is that choice and discounting are both at a high.
Who led the table
Tesla dominated the top of the charts. The Model 3 registered 9,929 units, enough for second place among all new cars sold, and the Model Y took 5,946 to land fifth overall. Behind them came two BYD models, the Sealion 7 (3,191) and the Seal (3,184), then the Kia EV3 with 3,026. If the Model 3 is on your shortlist, our Tesla Model 3 page has the specifications, and the full line-up from the Chinese maker is on the BYD brand page.
Plug-in hybrids are not a footnote
It is easy to read UK EV headlines as a pure battery story, but the plug-in hybrid growth rate outpaced battery-electric this month. That matters for buyers who want electric commuting without depending on a home charger. Our plug-in hybrid catalogue lists models separately from the battery-electric range, so you can compare electric range and prices on like-for-like terms.
The wider picture
Across the first nine months of the year, 454,945 battery-electric cars have been registered in the UK, a 26.2% share. SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said the UK still has the world’s toughest targets and highest energy costs, while crediting record sales to wider model choice and fuel prices. SMMT’s own headline for the month was “Record electric car market powers bumper September”. We have cross-checked the percentage growth against last year’s published September baseline, but figures above are as reported by Electrek and SMMT and may be revised.
Sources: Electrek, “UK EV sales surge 36% to record 99,199 as Tesla Model 3 leads” (2 October 2026); SMMT news release, 2 October 2026.
