Cyprus’ electric car fleet still tiny despite record new registrations

Battery-only electric vehicle (BEV) registrations in Cyprus more than doubled in 2023, though their presence on the roads remains well below the EU average, according to a report from Eurostat.

An estimated 970 new BEVs were registered that year, making up 6.6 per cent of the 14,637 total new passenger car registrations.  

This brought the total number of BEVs in circulation to 1,800, up from 830 the year before, a 117 per cent increase.

Despite the growth, battery-electric cars still accounted for just 0.29 per cent of the island’s 625,625-vehicle passenger car fleet, emphasising the early stage of adoption.

The upward trend continued in 2024, with 15,061 new passenger car registrations, the highest figure in more than a decade.  

Recent figures also point to steady growth into 2025. As previously reported, BEVs made up 4.8 per cent of newly registered passenger saloon cars in the first half of the year, compared with 3.3 per cent in the same period of 2024.

Hybrid models rose to 43 per cent, while petrol-powered cars slipped to 43.6 per cent. Diesel fell to just 8.6 per cent. 

Although overall passenger saloon registrations dropped by 3 per cent in the first half of 2025, activity picked up in June, with saloon registrations up 9.7 per cent year-on-year and total vehicle registrations rising by 13.1 per cent. 

Across the EU, BEV uptake appears to be levelling out. New registrations fell by 6.1 per cent in 2024 to 1.45 million, but the EU’s BEV fleet continued to grow, reaching 5.87 million, a 32.4 per cent increase from the previous year. 

Battery-electric vehicles accounted for 13.6 per cent of all new EU passenger car registrations, slightly down from 14.6 per cent in 2023. 

The highest shares of battery-only electric cars in new registered cars were found in Denmark led with a 51.3 per cent BEV share, followed by Malta (37.7 per cent) and Sweden (34.9 per cent).

At the other end, Croatia recorded just 1.8 per cent, Slovakia 2.4 per cent, and Poland 3 per cent.