Two reports on the UK's October 2026 electric-car market differ by just 297 battery-electric registrations—but by 21 percentage points on annual growth. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) reported 48,858 BEVs, up 32.7%, in its November 5 figures. A day earlier, Reuters reported 49,155 BEVs, up roughly 54%, citing New AutoMotive. Both numbers refer to October. They are not evidence that demand changed dramatically overnight.123
The explanation visible in the published numbers is a much bigger difference in the October 2025 comparison bases. At The Charger reconstructed the earlier-year counts implied by the reported growth percentages, rather than treating the two percentages as competing measurements using one shared denominator.
The 2025 denominator makes the difference
| UK new-car registration metric | SMMT, released Nov. 5 | New AutoMotive, reported Nov. 4 |
|---|---|---|
| October 2026 BEVs | 48,858 | 49,155 (via Reuters) |
| October 2025 BEVs | 36,830 (directly published) | ~31,981 (implied; not a directly retrieved original count) |
| BEV year-over-year growth | 32.7% | 53.7% (secondary-reported) |
| October 2026 all-car registrations | 152,730 | 154,407 (via Reuters) |
| October 2025 all-car registrations | 144,945 (directly published) | ~121,676 (implied from rounded growth) |
| All-car year-over-year growth | 5.4% | 26.9% (via Reuters) |
Sources: SMMT's original November 5 data tables; Reuters' November 4 reporting on New AutoMotive; and a specialist outlet's reported 53.7% rate. The italicized 2025 New AutoMotive estimates are At The Charger calculations, not figures authenticated from New AutoMotive's contemporary source table.123
Here is the key calculation: 49,155 ÷ 1.537 ≈ 31,981 BEVs for October 2025, using the secondarily reported 53.7% rate. SMMT's directly published October 2025 count is 36,830—about 4,849 registrations higher. By contrast, the two sources' October 2026 BEV totals differ by only 297 cars, approximately 0.6% of SMMT's total. SMMT's own 48,858 ÷ 36,830 − 1 = 32.66%, which rounds to its reported 32.7%.123
The same pattern affects the broader car market. Reuters said New AutoMotive counted 154,407 registrations across all powertrains, up 26.9%. That implies approximately 121,676 in October 2025, whereas SMMT's published 2025 all-car comparison is 144,945. Those implied historical totals are approximate because the published growth rates are rounded.12
The arithmetic is clear; the precise methodological cause isn't
The figures establish that different prior-year bases account mathematically for much of the growth-rate split. They do not establish why the providers arrived at those bases. New AutoMotive describes its own data collection, vehicle classification, registration-plate coverage and revisions in its published methodology. Reuters also noted on November 5 that New AutoMotive and SMMT use different data sources and calculations. Neither fact establishes which specific methodological difference caused the October discrepancy, or how much each factor contributed.45
As of this comparison, the complete contemporary New AutoMotive October 2026 source table and its original October 2025 comparator had not been independently retrieved for this article. The 49,155 figure comes from Reuters' reporting, while the precise 53.7% rate is also documented in specialist secondary coverage. The inferred 31,981 should therefore not be cited as a verified New AutoMotive historical registration count.23
Both reports describe a strong October for UK battery-electric registrations, with roughly one in three new cars being electric. The responsible comparison is to keep each organisation's numerator and denominator together—not to interpret 54% versus 33% as a change in actual UK registrations between November 4 and November 5.12
Sources
Footnotes
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Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), “Year-end push lifts EV sales but Mandate gap set to widen,” November 5, 2026. Original October 2026 and October 2025 fuel-type and all-car registration tables. Establishes 48,858/36,830 BEVs, 152,730/144,945 all-car totals, 32.7%/5.4% year-over-year increases and 32.0% BEV market share. SMMT is an industry body; its policy advocacy is distinct from the count tables. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5
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Reuters, “UK electric car registrations surge 54% to capture third of market,” November 4, 2026. Original Reuters New AutoMotive report and syndicated copy. Reuters attributes 49,155 BEVs, approximately 54% growth, 31.8% BEV share and 154,407 all-car registrations (+26.9%) to New AutoMotive. This is Reuters-originated secondary reporting, not our independently authenticated contemporary New AutoMotive dataset. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6
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WhichEV, “Electric cars lead UK market as October registrations jump 54%,” November 5, 2026. Secondary report reports New AutoMotive's precise 53.7% growth; this value was also cross-checked in Motor Trade News' November 4 report. Neither is the directly opened original monthly raw data. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4
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New AutoMotive, “A look under the hood of ECC: how our reports differ from other sources,” November 13, 2025, and its current Electric Car Count/data portal. Original general methodology discusses source records, classification and revisions. It is not a quantified explanation for the specific October 2026 source gap. ↩
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Reuters, “UK new car sales rise 5.4% in October, SMMT data shows,” November 5, 2026. Current original report explains that the trade body and New AutoMotive use different statistical sources and calculation methods; Reuters does not provide the above reconstructed 2025 figures or identify the precise cause of the difference. ↩