TL; DR
In March 2026, after the Iran war, with the price of oil exceeding $100, the registration of electric cars in Europe increased by 51 percent. BYD inquiries on Carwow are up 25,000 percent, with Chinese brands making the biggest gains.
War has a way of rewriting consumer habits overnight. After US and Israeli airstrikes hit Iran in late February, crude oil prices topped $100 a barrel for the first time since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. The result at Europe’s gas pumps was immediate and painful.
In EV dealers, the result was the opposite. In March, battery electric vehicle registrations increased by 51 percent In 14 major EU and EFTA markets, over 224,000 new EVs were registered in one month. This brought electric vehicles to 22 percent of all new car sales in those countries.
In the first quarter alone, EU countries registered more than 500,000 new electric cars. This means an increase of 33.5 percent compared to the same period last year. The increase marks the sharpest quarterly acceleration in a year European EV reception since pandemic-era subsidies pushed buyers to battery power in the first place.
The Iran conflict has effectively shut down shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, threatening about a fifth of global oil supplies. The International Energy Agency called it the biggest global energy security challenge in history. The rise in pump prices is the latest boost for European drivers already struggling with years of high living costs.
Chinese brands have been the biggest beneficiaries. Purchase inquiries for BYD on the Carwow platform increased by a staggering 25,000 percent in the first quarter. Leapmotor rose 436 percent and Xpeng rose 153 percent.
These numbers reflect online interest rather than deliveries, but the trend translates into actual sales. In March, BYD’s registrations in Germany increased by 327 percent, giving it a 1.2 percent market share in Europe’s largest car market. It comes as an increase Tesla’s European registration has collapsed Amidst boycotts linked to Elon Musk’s political activities, it leaves a void that Chinese manufacturers are racing to fill.
Traditional automakers are also feeling the shift. Renault said that 50 per cent of UK registrations in April were electric vehicles. Its Renault 5 became Britain’s best-selling electric car that month. Since the start of the war, Renault’s UK website has seen a 48 per cent increase in EV inquiries.
Volvo Cars reported increased orders, particularly for the entry-level EX30 compact SUV. “Customers are most sensitive to rising oil prices,” said Eric Severinson, chief commercial officer. The EX30 starts from around £31,500 in Britain, making it one of the more accessible premium EVs on the market.
Second-hand market OLX reported an 80 percent increase in EV inquiries on its French platform since hostilities began. Chief executive Christian Gisi said the conflict had “fundamentally changed the way people think about energy security in their everyday lives”.
The question is, does this momentum continue? Previous oil shocks, including the spike in 2022 following Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, have created temporary spikes in EV interest as fuel prices normalize. But charging infrastructure it’s more mature now, Chinese rivals have made electric cars significantly cheaper, and EU emissions rules are set to get tougher in 2027.
for European car manufacturersthe timing is bitter. The demand for EVs that they spent billions building factories for has finally arrived. But the brands capturing the most dramatic growth aren’t Volkswagen, Stellantis or BMW. They are BYD, Leapmotor and Xpeng.
