In the first half (H1) of 2025, 81.8% of new private cars registered in Denmark were battery-electric vehicles (BEVs). The ICE share has shrunk to less than 19%. The corporate sector, however, is not doing as well as the private one. 

From January to June this year, 89,547 new passenger cars were registered in Denmark (pictured: Copenhagen), a 3.8% increase over H1 2024. Of these,

63.8% were full-electric vehicles (BEVs) 2.9% were plug-in hybrid EVs (PHEVs) 3.9% were full hybrids (HEVs) 10.4% were mild hybrids (MHEVs) 16.3% were petrol cars 2.5% were diesel cars. “Embracing BEVs”

In absolute terms, the volume of BEVs increased by almost 47% year on year (to 57,171 units). In relative terms, the share of BEVs increased from 45% in the first half of 2024 to close to 64% in H1 2025. 

That’s amazing progress for BEVs in an otherwise essentially stable market. The swing towards BEVs is even starker when looking at the private market alone: just under 82% of private buyers of new cars in Denmark got a BEV – in June, that figure even went up to 86%. 

“The private market has really embraced the BEV”, says Mads Rørvig, CEO of Mobility Danmark. “This development brings Denmark closer to its climate goals, so this is something which we must protect”. Mr Rørvig calls for the Danish government to simplify car taxation in order to sustain the momentum towards decarbonization.

The CEO also called for political action to maintain momentum towards decarbonisation. “Politicians should look at how a new car taxation model can create a simpler system that will benefit everyone and permanently support the green transition,” Rørvig stated.

Fiscal incentives

If private BEV sales are doing very well in Denmark, it’s thanks in large part to fiscal incentives, notably a significant reduction in vehicle registration tax for BEVs. There is of course a flipside to the private sector doing much better than average, and that is that Danish corporate fleets are doing significantly worse. 

The half-year figures released by Mobility Denmark don’t specify any figures for the corporate market, but assuming that, as has been the case in recent years, corporate registrations represent about half of the total, that would put the BEV segment of company cars registered in Denmark in H1 2025 at around 47%.  

No doubt the lag in corporate BEV implementation indicates that the fiscal environment for electrification of company fleets in Denmark still leaves room for improvement. 

Image: Unsplash, public domain