Economy 4 February 2026, 11:33am

Pure-electric vehicle registrations in Hungary drop m/m in January

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More than 2,300 battery electric vehicles were registered in Hungary in January 2026, 18.5% fewer than in December 2025, but 20.4% more than in the first month last year, according to the latest data by the Ministry of the Interior. The number of BEVs is close to 103,900. At the end of 2025, Hungary had 101,534 BEVs, an annual increase of over 44%. The end-2025 figure is more than 13 times higher than in January 2020 and almost 23 times higher than in January 2019

In January 2026, a total of 2,359 vehicles were registered with green licence plates in Hungary, 18.5% fewer than in December last year, but 20% more than in January 2025. This follows a 5.6% m/m and a 44.5% yr/yr growth in December.

The number of vehicles with green licence plates reached 149,156 and that of battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) 103,876. The latter number includes 96,104 passenger cars.

The following graph shows the monthly tally of green plate registrations since January 2020 in the three main categories: Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV), Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) and Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV).

The dramatic decline in the HEV and PHEV categories was triggered by regulatory changes. Extended-range, externally chargeable hybrid electric vehicles (5N) and externally chargeable hybrid electric vehicles (plug-in hybrid vehicles, 5P) have no longer been able to receive green number plates when first registered in Hungary since 1 September 2024. In addition, previously issued green number plates for these vehicles will have to be replaced by 30 November 2026 at the latest, beyond which date they must have regular licence plates.

While we continue to receive monthly data from the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) on new passenger car registrations, including the uptake of electric vehicles for all engine types, the HEV and PHEV figures in green number plate reports from the Ministry of the Interior will continue to be practically zero.

Note that the Hungarian figures also include second-hand vehicles, while ACEA data do not. According to the latest Datahouse figures, 11,002 new pure-electric passenger cars were sold in Hungary in 2025, which means that

61.5% of those registered with green licence plates were used cars.

A total of 2,342 battery electric vehicles were newly registered with green licence plate in Hungary in January, following 2,874 in December, and a record-breaking 2,935 in October.

the latest figure marks a 18.5% decrease in monthly terms and a 20.4% increase in annual terms.

The new registration of passenger cars in the BEV category, showed a 19.4% month-on-month drop and a 16.7% yr/yr growth to 2,095. The monthly record remains 2,707 tallied in June 2025.

Almost 70% of all vehicles with green licence plates are now battery electric vehicles, up from 44.3% in January 2019. Meanwhile, due to the aforementioned regulatory changes, the share of HEVs and PHEVs has declined from around 28% to 21.2% and 8.5%, respectively.

In 2025, 31,148 pure electric vehicles were registered with green licence plates, which marks a 45.9% year-on-year increase. Of these, 28,560 (almost 92%) were passenger cars, which corresponds to a 48.1% yr/yr increase.

The continued rise in EV registrations is also linked to the government's support scheme, which was opened on 5 February 2024 andwas to expire at the end of March, but was extended to 1 December 2025 and recently to 26 February 2026. It allows companies to apply for between 2.8 and 4 million HUF per car, depending on the battery capacity and vehicle category, for the purchase of green cars.

The budget has recently been raised by HUF 10 billion to HUF 40 billion.

Depending on the number of employees, a company can receive between HUF 2.8 and 64 million in total to upgrade its fleet with climate-friendly vehicles.

The number of cars you can apply for depends on the number of employees:
- up to 9 employees can apply for 1 car,
- 10-49 employees for 5 cars,
- 50-249 employees for 10 cars and
- 250 employees and up for a maximum of 16 cars.

The amount of the grant depends on the net purchase price of the vehicle, the gross battery capacity and whether the application is for a car or a truck. Buying the EV(s) can take up to 20 months to complete from the start date, with a final deadline of 30 April 2026.

By the end of January, more than 10,000 applications had been received for state subsidies to purchase 11,400 electric vehicles. Three quarters of these vehicles are passenger cars. BYD, a Chinese brand, is the most popular, and the most sought-after model is the Tesla Model Y. Payout is progressing at a good rate, with more than HUF 25 billion already paid out to over 5,800 winners, the Ministry of Energy said a few days ago.

The geographical distribution shows that while at the beginning almost the same share of green licence plates were registered in Budapest (48.9%) than in the rest of the country (51.1%), the ratio has become much healthier by now, with 62.7% registered in the countryside and 37.3% in the capital. This translates to 93,533 vehicles in rural Hungary and 55,623 in Budapest.

Of BEVs, including passenger cars, trucks, buses, and tractors, there were 103,876 registered in Hungary at the end of January, a 43.6% annual growth and more than 13 times as many as in January 2020 and more than 23 times as many as in January 2019.

The number of HEVs totalled 31.606, practically flat yr/yr, while the number of PHEVs totalled 12,669, also unchanged from a year earlier. Although the figures shown in graph below represent a wider range of vehicles (as the note in the chart says), passenger cars comprised 92.5% of BEVs by the end of January.

How popular are (were) the different kind of EVs in Hungary?

Green licence plate registrations took off in the first half of 2022 compared to the H1 2021, then the growth petered out in January-July 2023 only to soar again in the first nine months of 2024. The same pattern applies to BEVs, while HEVs showed a more modest but steady growth, and the popularity of PHEVs actually subsided.

Unless one of the ministries or the Central Statistical Office (KSH) decide to publish detailed statistics, i.e. a breakdown of EVs, we will be able to learn about the HEV and PHEV registrations only from the monthly ACEA reports, but those DO NOT include imported (second-hand) vehicles, while the Hungarian green licence plate stats do.

The graphs below show the 'popularity' of the three types of electric vehicles, but the light blue and dark blue columns have essentially become obsolete, unless we use them for comparison up to 2024 when the regulatory changes - excluding HEVs and PHEVs from getting green licence plates - entered into effect on 1 September 2024.