Sales of electric cars with starting prices below €25,000 are projected to be seven times higher in 2026 than in 2024, according to a new progress report from the campaign group Transport & Environment. The forecast points to a rapid expansion of less expensive battery-electric options after years in which European buyers had relatively few small models to choose from.
The group says the number of electric models in that price bracket has doubled. Across the broader mass market, nearly 40 battery-electric models were launched during the first half of 2026, taking the available total above 150. About 60 additional models are expected by the end of the year. That pace is close to four times the annual average of 15 new models recorded from 2021 through 2025.
The launch wave is coinciding with stronger sales. Transport & Environment reports that 1.64 million battery-electric vehicles were sold in the European Union between January and August, a 45 percent increase from the same period a year earlier. Battery-electric vehicles also outsold petrol-only cars across an entire quarter for the first time in the second quarter, reaching a 22 percent share.
Transport & Environment links the change to the European Union's fleet carbon-dioxide rules. Carmakers are expected to comply with the targets covering 2025 through 2027, and the organization argues that those requirements encouraged manufacturers to broaden their electric lineups. It contrasts the current product surge with the relatively flat regulatory period from 2021 to 2024, when it says companies had less incentive to introduce affordable battery-electric cars.
The analysis is also part of a policy argument. The group warns that weakening the EU's targets for 2030 and 2035 could reduce future investment in smaller, lower-cost models and weaken European manufacturers in the global electric-vehicle market. That conclusion reflects the advocacy organization's interpretation of the market data; it is not an official EU forecast or a guarantee that every announced model will reach buyers on schedule.
Demand indicators cited in the report include more than 40,000 orders and a ten-month waiting list for Volkswagen's ID. Polo. Transport & Environment presents that response as evidence that limited product choice, rather than a fundamental lack of consumer interest, constrained earlier sales of small electric cars.
Operating costs form another part of the case. The organization says recent fuel-price increases have widened the running-cost advantage of electric vehicles, though household savings vary with electricity tariffs, mileage, charging access and the vehicle purchased. Purchase prices below €25,000 also describe starting prices and do not account for equipment, financing or local incentives.
Even with those qualifications, the model count and sales figures show a market moving beyond a narrow selection of premium vehicles. Whether the sevenfold forecast is achieved will depend on manufacturers delivering announced cars, maintaining supply and converting early interest into registrations through the remainder of 2026.
