France smashes EV records with 29% market share in May

France goes electric: EV sales soar 93% in May

While in Spain the debate over electric cars is stuck on the lack of charging points and the price of apartments without garages, France has just smashed every record. May 2026 closed with 37,412 registrations of 100% electric cars, up 92.7% on the same month last year. Market share reached 29%, according to data from Automobile Magazine.

Portugal, for its part, also posted a 28% share in the same month, drawing a very uneven Iberian picture: the two neighbouring countries are accelerating while Spain falls behind. The argument that electric cars only work for homeowners with detached houses and solar panels is getting harder to sustain as sales go mainstream in countries with similar housing stocks.

The infrastructure mirage

One of the most repeated mantras is that "the Spanish live in 250,000-euro beehive apartments with no parking space". But neither France nor Portugal has a magic solution: the difference lies in the pace of public charging point rollout and in political will. While here people debate whether plugging in a car is a pogre thing, over there subsidies and the fast-charging network keep multiplying.

Curiously, some French buyers admit they went electric out of pragmatism, not environmental awareness. "I saw the tax coming and got ahead of it," says one owner who sold his two combustion cars before they lost value. The irony is that many of those who once sneered at electric cars are now their best ambassadors, even if they won't admit it.

And what about Spain?

With the figures on the table, the awkward question is why Spain remains stuck in single-digit shares. The structural barriers (no home charging in apartment blocks, lower disposable income) are real, but the gap with France and Portugal keeps widening. Perhaps the problem is not just infrastructure, but a certain cultural resistance to admitting the shift is unstoppable.

Meanwhile, sales in France keep climbing. The open war between the Renault 5 and the Tesla Model Y is driving the numbers up. And here we are still arguing over whether it's worth plugging in a car when the train has already left the station.

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