UK BEVs take 32% of October registrations; Japan EV sales top 100,000

Four electric-vehicle stories from October 29 to November 6, 2026: battery-electric cars took 32.0% of UK registrations in October, Japan's EV sales passed 100,000 for 2026 by industry count, GM is recalling 67,380 Cadillac and Chevrolet EVs over brake software, and the Port of New York and New Jersey has opened $39.9 million in vouchers for electric trucks and chargers.

UK: battery-electric cars take 32% of October registrations

Battery-electric cars took 32.0% of the UK new-car market in October 2026, their highest share of the year, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders reported on November 5. BEV registrations rose 32.7% to 48,858 in a market up 5.4% to 152,730, while petrol fell 11.6% to 56,876 cars and a 37.2% share. Plug-ins, SMMT says, "accounted for all of the growth."

The year is running behind the month. BEVs hold 26.6% of the market for January through October, and SMMT's latest outlook expects 27.2% for 2026 against the ZEV Mandate's 33% target, then 32% against 38% in 2027 and 37.5% against 52% in 2028. SMMT credits October's share to manufacturers pushing registrations toward the annual target, "repeating the pattern of the previous two years," and says they have spent billions on discounts, low and 0% finance, deposit contributions "and even subsidised charging." It wants the targets revised down and points to the Budget's confirmation of an EV-specific mileage tax from 2028 and a proposal to keep VAT on public charging at 20%, both covered in our Budget report. "Higher targets may force supply, but they do not create demand," said chief executive Mike Hawes. Germany's BEV share reached 37.0% the same month (Battery-electric cars take a record 37% of German registrations in October).

Japan: EV sales pass 100,000 for the year

Japan's EV sales from January through October 2026 totaled 111,876, the first time they have passed 100,000 in a year, Kyodo News reported on November 6, citing the Japan Automobile Dealers Association (JADA) and the Japan Light Motor Vehicle and Motorcycle Association. Of those, 95,614 were standard and compact cars and 16,262 were kei minivehicles, per Kyodo.

Registered cars carry most of the total. In JADA's fuel-type tables, which leave kei cars out, October's 12,733 EVs were 5.9% of 216,757 registrations and more than triple October 2025. Summed across the ten monthly tables, registered EVs reached 95,614, against 39,885 in all of 2025, by our arithmetic. Hybrids still dominate registered cars: 135,257 in October, or 62.4%. Imported EVs outsold Toyota's in October, 4,208 to 4,108, though JADA counts Japanese makers' overseas-built cars as imports.

Kyodo credits the growth to government subsidies, currently up to 1.3 million yen per EV, and reports that applications under the current program are expected to close as early as December, with amounts reduced from January 2027.

GM recalls 67,380 EVs over brake software

General Motors is recalling 67,380 EVs because brake system control module software "may cause a temporary loss of braking at low speeds following a specific sequence of events," according to its Part 573 safety recall report to NHTSA (recall 26V717), submitted October 29, 2026. It covers 2023–2027 Cadillac Lyriq, 2024–2027 Chevrolet Blazer EV, 2025–2026 Cadillac Celestiq and 2026–2027 Cadillac Vistiq. The Lyriq and Blazer EV populations are limited to performance all-wheel drive, which on the Blazer EV comes only on the SS and PPV trims.

The sequence, per GM: brakes lightly applied at low speed in a sharp turn, then a bump or dip, "such as at the end of a driveway," may lead the software's slip calculation to misinterpret wheel movement and in some instances cause a temporary loss of braking. Normal braking returns on the next press. GM found 24 field complaints potentially related to the condition, including 20 minor accidents, two with allegations of minor injuries. The investigation began with a 2024 Lyriq that struck a garage at low speed in circumstances similar to 24V589, an August 2024 Lyriq brake recall, and that Lyriq was built with the software GM introduced as 24V589's remedy.

The fix is a brake-module software update, over the air or at a dealer, free of charge, per NHTSA's recall summary. Owner letters are due to be mailed December 14, 2026.

Port of New York and New Jersey opens $39.9 million in truck vouchers

Eligible drayage fleets at the Port of New York and New Jersey can get up to $230,000 off a battery-electric Class 8 truck at the dealer, now that the port's Clean Truck Incentives program is taking voucher requests. The program page, updated November 4, 2026, announces that vouchers are available, and the Port Authority's truck page says the program "is now accepting applications." Battery-electric yard trucks get up to $150,000 and the largest chargers (351 kW or more, or a mobile power unit) up to $140,000, and a charger voucher must be tied to a truck voucher from the program.

The Implementation Manual sets $39,928,781 aside, first come, first served within each category: $15,971,513 for drayage trucks and $11,978,634 each for yard trucks and chargers. No voucher may exceed 75% of the equipment's cost. Both truck categories must be "Powered entirely by battery-electric technology (zero tailpipe emissions)," and the manual rules out hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, plug-in hybrids, anything with a combustion engine, and used, converted or personal-use vehicles. Drayage buyers must be enrolled in the PortTruckPass system and make at least 100 visits a year to the port with the funded truck for at least three years.

The battery-electric drayage cap is nearly twice the $120,000 that South Coast AQMD's fee-funded program offers for a battery-electric Class 8 truck (South Coast AQMD opens $73.1M of warehouse fees to zero-emission trucks). One promise from the EPA grant's announcement does not appear in the voucher rules. When the EPA selected the Port Authority's project in October 2024 for an anticipated $344,138,135, it said the Port Authority "commits to reducing the number of polluting vehicles at the port by scrapping a portion of the existing fleet." That commitment covers the whole project, not the voucher program alone, and the manual sets no scrappage requirement for voucher buyers.