For the first time, Belgium’s roads carry more electrified cars than diesel vehicles. For a country where most citizens once had diesel flowing through their veins, that is an important milestone.
Petrol remains dominant
Official figures released by Statbel show that the combined electrified fleet in Belgium reached 1,512,874 units at the beginning of last month, edging past 1,493,622 diesels. It is the first time that diesel has sunk to last place. Petrol remains the dominant fuel type with 3,135,934 drivers filling up E5 or E10.
Petrol’s growth has stalled, though, but this is a logical evolution as these drivelines are increasingly replaced by electrified alternatives at manufacturer’s level. In other words, there’s less of them available in the showrooms or configurators.
Belgium’s total passenger car fleet stood at 6,201,805 vehicles, which is up 1% on a year-to-year basis. That’s in line with the decade’s average annual growth of 0.83 per cent. Diesel, by contrast, continues its steep decline, shedding 12.1 per cent in a single year.
Two drivelines, one heading
Obviously, the claim that electric cars are overtaking diesel is overstretched. Statbel groups two fundamentally different technologies under one heading. The hybrid total therefore spans almost everything with substantial electric range. That matters, because these cars aren’t free from tailpipe emissions and are regarded bridge solutions.
Pure battery electric vehicles number 8.8 per cent of the national fleet (544,517 uits). Hybrids account for almost double that share: 968,357 vehicles or 15.6 per cent. Taken together they reach 24.4 per cent of the car parc, just ahead of diesel’s 24.1 per cent.
However, some diesel hybrids might be counted under the electrified range. But these numbers are small, as Mercedes remains the only manufacturer to offer the technology in Belgium.
Obviously, the record low percentage from diesel drivelines bears a strong symbolical value. The fuel once dominated the Belgian markets, reaching shares as high as 90% in the corporate car market, where the TDI, CDI and d labels once were a common sight. But it is now being abandoned at rapid pace.
As for new registrations, diesel has collapsed to a marginal level of 3.5% in Belgium. At the same time, the existing fleet is being scrapped as these latest figures from Statbel show.
Corporate cars on top
It is a well-documented fact that electric vehicles remain the overwhelming choice in company car circles. Of all the electric cars on Belgian roads, 81.2 per cent (442,147 units) are registered to companies. Private buyers account for just 18.7 per cent. Clearly, the direction for the market to move is from corporate to private.
Hybrids tell the opposite story. More than half (58.9% or 570,197 units) belong to individuals, while the rest are company-owned. The reason is not hard to find. Since 2026, Belgium has made the tax treatment of company cars binary: zero-emission vehicles retain full deductibility, while combustion-engine company cars ordered from that date receive none at all. By the start of 2027, the deductibility for EVs will be lowered to 95%.
