96.7 g CO2 per km: European new cars reach a new milestone in 2025

In 2025, new cars sold in Europe crossed a symbolic threshold: an average of only 96.7 g of CO₂ per kilometer. Behind this dramatic drop lies an automotive market transformation that is far faster than it may appear.

In a year, new cars shaved nearly 10 grams of CO₂ per kilometer

At first glance, dix grammes de CO₂ might seem almost anecdotal. Yet on the scale of millions of cars, the shift takes on a different dimension. According to the European Environment Agency, average emissions fell from 106.7 g/km in 2024 to 96.7 g/km in 2025. The data are still provisional.

This average covers roughly 10.8 million new cars registered in the European Union, Norway, and Iceland. The number of registrations hardly changed. The drop therefore does not stem from a collapse in sales. It is mainly explained by the arrival of lower-emitting vehicles on European roads.

And this shift has a clearly identifiable driver. Fully electric cars accounted for 18.9 % of new registrations in 2025, up from 14.4 % a year earlier. Plug-in hybrids reached 9.7% in parallel. A few percentage points more on the market are thus enough to noticeably pull down the continent’s average carbon footprint.

Behind the 96.7 g/km figure lies the unstoppable rise of the electric car

A zero-emission car at the tailpipe automatically pulls the average downward in regulatory calculations. This mechanism explains a large part of the decline observed in 2025. Internal combustion engines did not, by themselves, undergo a comparable revolution in twelve months.

The evolution becomes even more striking when viewed over a longer horizon. The ICCT estimates that in 2025 electric vehicles accounted for around 19 % of European registrations. Meanwhile, conventional internal-combustion vehicles continued their retreat. European carmaking has not yet changed its world, but its center of gravity is clearly moving.

But a zero tailpipe emission car is never truly “zero carbon”

The battery quickly reminds us of a less comfortable reality: manufacturing a electric car emits CO₂. Extracting raw materials, producing cells, assembling, and transporting all add up before the first kilometer is driven. According to the ICCT, manufacturing can generate roughly 40% more emissions than that of a comparable gasoline car.

The story, however, reverses once the car starts moving. A 2025 ICCT study estimates a life-cycle emission of an electric model at about 63 g CO₂e/km. A comparable gasoline car reaches 235 g. The carbon payback from manufacturing would be offset after roughly 17,000 kilometers.

ADEME arrives at a similar logic. It emphasizes, however, that the size of the vehicle matters a great deal. In France, a small electric city car can become more favorable than a diesel after around 20,000 kilometers. For a large electric SUV, this threshold can climb to 100,000 kilometers. Electrification therefore does not erase the weight question.

The next challenge won’t be played only in car exhausts

CO₂ should not be confused with all automotive pollutants. It primarily drives climate warming. Nitrogen oxides and fine particles affect, directly, air quality. Even without an exhaust, an electric car still emits particles linked to tires and road wear.

The figure of 96.7 g/km thus looks less like a finish line than a turning point in an era. The European Commission sets a reference level of 93.6 g/km for cars in the 2025-2029 period. Further cuts are already planned for the next decade, with regulatory targets becoming increasingly stringent.

As exhaust disappears, other questions become more visible: vehicle weight, battery production, the origin of electricity, recycling, or the car’s place in the city. The next ecological battle may no longer simply be about changing engines. It could require a broader question: what kind of car will Europe truly need?