2026-08-17 · passenger cars on the road
EVs are still a single-digit share of cars
Sales are surging — the global fleet turns over slowly.
The world's roads are still overwhelmingly combustion: of roughly 1.4 billion passenger cars in 2026, about 96% run on petrol or diesel. Only around 4% plug in — 2.5% battery electric, 1.5% plug-in hybrid. EV sales are surging, but the global fleet turns over slowly, so the stock lags the sales boom.
1 cell = 1.4 million passenger cars on the road (0.1% of global car fleet) · 1,000 cells
Context
The bands split the global car fleet three ways: battery electric 2.5%, plug-in hybrid 1.5%, and petrol and diesel 96%. Combined, the plug-in categories reach only about 4% of roughly 1.4 billion passenger cars.
The gap between sales and stock is the story: even as EV purchases climb, cars stay on the road for years after they're built, so combustion vehicles exit the fleet slowly. That's how a booming EV market coexists with a fleet that remains overwhelmingly petrol and diesel.
At this scale, small shares are big numbers: 96% still means roughly 1.3 billion combustion cars on the road. Figures are IEA Global EV Outlook fleet share estimates for the global car fleet (2026).
IEA Global EV Outlook fleet share estimate.
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Credit this grid as Inagrid — https://inagrid.com/e/2026-08-17-electric-vehicles