The abandonment of classical petrol and diesel is no longer a prediction for the distant future. The figures show that the transition has already begun and at a much higher speed than we may realize by looking at the Greek fleet on the streets.
In Greece, in the eight months of January-August 2026, only 24% of new passengers were pure gasoline-powered and just the 2.2% diesel. The two traditional options together were limited to 26.2% of the market, from 35.7% in the respective period of 2025.
The great power of the Greek market is now hybrids, which have reached the impressive 57,7%, while pure electrical is at 6.7%, plug-in hybrid at 6.3% and LPG models at 3%.
And the trend becomes even clearer if you look only in August: the pure gasoline engines retreated to 18,8%, the diesels in just 1,3%, while hybrids reached 59.8% and pure electric at 10.6%.
Obviously this does not mean that Greece suddenly stopped consuming gas. The majority of hybrids still have an internal combustion engine. But it means that the classic car based solely on a conventional gasoline engine or diesel loses its position for decades.
The same change across Europe
The phenomenon is not Greek. In the European Union, in the first half of 2026, petrol and diesel together were limited to 29.7% of classificationsFrom 37.8% a year earlier.
Pure electric cars now have a share 20,7%, hybrid 37.3% and plug-in hybrid 9.8%. Only BEVs exceeded 1.22 million classifications in six months.
The image is even more characteristic if we just go back a year. In the total of 2025, pure electrics had a 17.4% share in the EU, while gasoline and diesel together were still 35.5%. The change is therefore very fast.
And there is a second, very important factor: China.
The largest car market in the world and one of the most important oil consumers internationally now sees the demand for road fuel retreating. According to Sinopec's latest estimates, the total Chinese oil demand is projected to decrease by 3.9% within 2026About 600,000 barrels a day. Even more impressive is the estimated fall against 8.7% in petrol and 11.4% in diesel.
The huge penetration of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles in China is one of the factors that gradually change an oil market which for a century considered self-moving a given and constantly increasing customer.
But there is an apparent paradox: demand for petrol can go down in the long term, but that does not mean that the price of the pump is falling constantly.
On 18 September Brent closed in 104.87 a barrel, as ongoing turbulence in the Middle East and problems in oil transport continue to create fears of supply.
In simple terms, structural demand for oil cars may be reduced, but a large geopolitical or logistics crisis may still eject the price of crude and final fuels.
Greece: The petrol again over 2.15 euros
In the last fully comparable weekly bulletin of the European Commission, with prices of 14 September, unleaded 95 in Greece had already reached EUR 2,158 per litre, while the drive diesel in EUR 2,122. In fact, within just one week gasoline had increased by 6.5 minutes and diesel by 6.8 minutes.
The daily picture of the official Price Watch shows that pressure continues. On Saturday 19 September the average price of plain lead 95 was recorded in 2,176 euros in Athens, 2,180 euros in Thessaloniki, while in the Cyclades he had reached EUR 2,389 per litre.
This means that a simple 50-litre filling with a price of 2.18 euros now requires about EUR 109.
And here it begins to seem clear why the energy crisis is accelerating changes in buyer choices.
A petrol car that consumes 7 litres/100 km, with petrol 2.18 euros, needs about EUR 15,26 per 100 km. At 15,000 kilometers a year, only fuel reaches about EUR 2,290.
Even an economic diesel with a real consumption of 5.5 litres/100 km and a fuel price close to 2,12 euros is needed approximately EUR 11.7 per 100 km, i.e. about 1,750 euros at 15,000 kilometers.
An electric car with a consumption of 17 kWh/100 km, if charged mainly at home, operates with a completely different economic equation. Even if we use indicative real electricity costs of EUR 0,20/kWh, it requires about EUR 3,40 for 100 km. Costs are certainly increasing significantly when the driver systematically uses expensive public couriers.
But the difference remains great. And it becomes even larger when maintenance is added, as electricity has no oil changes, oil filters, spark plugs, clutch, exhaust system and many of the mechanical parts of a thermal car.
Of course there is the other side of reality. Greece has one of Europe's oldest fleets. In the latest ACEA data available, the average age of Greek passengers is around 17.5 yearsAs against 12,5 years in the EU. This means that the change we see in the sale of new cars will take several years to move to all the cars on the Greek roads.
Even the European car industry itself warns that the transition is not automatic. ACEA points out that Europe has around 1.2 million public charging points, but their development remains uneven, with Greece among the markets where there is still a significant infrastructure gap.
The bottom line is that oil and gas are not going to disappear tomorrow. Millions of cars will continue to move with them for many more years.
But the big change has already begun.
The buyer of a new car in Greece no longer thinks almost automatically «petrol or diesel»As it was a decade ago. Today the discussion starts with hybrid, plug-in hybrid or electric and only then reaches traditional options.
And as gasoline moves in the 2.20 euros area, every new energy shock makes this transition even faster.
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