More than half of the new cars registered in the Netherlands last month were battery-electric. In September 2026 the Dutch market took 36,259 new passenger cars, 12.6% more than the 32,195 of September 2025, and 52.8% of them were fully electric — up from 37.5% a year earlier.
That is the first time the Dutch monthly BEV share has cleared 50%. It also arrives in a year when the market as a whole is shrinking: across January to September the Netherlands registered 264,701 cars, 1.9% fewer than in the same period of 2025.
The month in numbers
| Measure | September 2026 | September 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| New passenger cars | 36,259 | 32,195 |
| Change | +12.6% | — |
| Battery-electric share | 52.8% | 37.5% |
| Petrol-only share | 7.4% | 14.9% |
The petrol line is the one worth pausing on. Pure petrol cars without any hybrid assistance halved their share in twelve months, from 14.9% to 7.4%. In a market where electric is now the majority choice, unassisted combustion has become the niche.
Tesla finished second, and September carried its year
Tesla registered 3,165 cars in September, a 56.0% increase on September 2025, putting it second among all brands — behind Toyota on 3,274 and ahead of Kia on 3,060.
| Brand | September 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Toyota | 3,274 | +16.5% |
| Tesla | 3,165 | +56.0% |
| Kia | 3,060 | +9.0% |
| Renault | 2,490 | −3.9% |
| Skoda | 2,280 | −9.6% |
| BMW | 2,264 | +20.1% |
| Volkswagen | 2,078 | −23.0% |
| Volvo | 1,499 | +17.2% |
| Mercedes-Benz | 1,454 | −0.3% |
| BYD | 1,351 | +274.2% |
Set that against the nine-month table and the shape of Tesla's year becomes clear. Tesla is ninth for the year to date on 11,160 cars — so September alone accounted for roughly 28% of everything it registered in the Netherlands across nine months. In August it was ninth on 1,023 cars, as our August report recorded. This is the familiar end-of-quarter delivery push, amplified by something local.
The tax change behind the surge
BOVAG and RAI Vereniging attribute much of September's strength to the announced pseudo-final levy (pseudo-eindheffing) on combustion company cars that are also driven privately. Fleet buyers are moving ahead of it, and the trade bodies expect a further rush — into hybrids rather than EVs — before the year ends.
That matters for reading the number. A 52.8% BEV share is a real figure, but part of it is demand pulled forward by a tax deadline rather than a permanent shift in preference. BYD's +274.2% sits in the same column.
The year still belongs to Kia
| Year to date | Brand | Cars |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kia | 25,481 |
| 2 | Toyota | 21,666 |
| 3 | Volkswagen | 17,829 |
| 9 | Tesla | 11,160 |
Among models, the Tesla Model Y leads the country outright on 7,283 registrations, ahead of the Toyota Aygo X on 6,268 and the Kia Picanto on 5,183. The Model 3 is eighth on 3,817.
So the Netherlands joins France, Norway and Sweden in a September where the Model Y led or very nearly led the national table. The difference here is the share: a Dutch buyer now faces a showroom where electric is the default, not the alternative.