State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman published a harsh follow-up report, based on a review completed through January 2026, saying Israel’s electric vehicle transition has advanced mainly because of consumers, while government ministries have largely failed to support it. By the end of 2025, about 224,700 electric vehicles were on Israeli roads, up nearly 1,400% from 2021. Electric cars reached a record 25% of new car sales in 2025, above the European average, but by 2026 their share fell to 11% after many drivers ran into charging problems and lost tax benefits, including a license-fee discount. The report also says the external cost of transport-related air pollution rose in 2024 to about NIS 10.9 billion.
A major barrier is what the report calls range anxiety. About 60% of the public is deterred from switching to electric because most Israelis lack private parking with a home charger. As of April 2025, Israel had only 7,907 public charging sockets, including 1,514 fast DC chargers, enough for simultaneous charging of just 4.9% of the electric fleet. A CBS survey published in May 2024 found 97% of electric-car owners reported a severe shortage of public chargers, and 51% said the fast chargers they reached were working but occupied. Since 2018, no new quantitative or geographic targets have been set for charger deployment, and the national plan for chargers at gas stations was only released for public objections in April 2026.
The audit also says home charging in shared buildings remains unresolved. A government decision from August 2021 ordered amendments to property law to allow charger installation in apartment blocks, but three and a half years later, by January 2026, the bill was still stuck in Knesset committee deliberations. The report warns this lack of regulation invites unsafe illegal installations and neighborhood disputes. New buildings are also unprepared: despite the government’s goal that 95% of new vehicles registered from 2030 will be zero-emission, current rules require electrical panels in new residential buildings to support charging for only 20% of parking spaces.
The report singles out heavy trucks as the dirtiest segment of the fleet. They make up 7.2% of vehicles and 12.4% of mileage, but cause 44% of transport pollution, estimated at NIS 3.2 billion a year. Their average age has risen from 5.1 years in 2000 to 9.5 years in 2024, after a scrappage program was halted in May 2020. The Environment Ministry supports only limited purchases of electric garbage trucks, while a committee said high purchase prices, about three times a diesel truck, and uncertainty over charging infrastructure are holding the sector back. Israel also failed to establish new low-emission zones beyond Haifa in 2018 and Jerusalem in 2020, with expansions around Kiryat and Nesher still stalled.
The audit did note two areas of progress: electric city buses and smart meters. Electric buses rose from 95 at the end of 2021 to 3,239 at the end of 2025, with 4,366 expected by the end of 2026, about 22% of the urban bus fleet. Smart-meter installation accelerated to about one million units by the end of August 2024, and Israel aims for full deployment by 2028. The report also says Noga and the Energy Ministry aligned forecasts for 2030, expecting 1.3 million electric cars using about 4 terawatt-hours. Englman concluded that ministries have not fixed key shortcomings and called for immediate action to remove barriers to clean transport and expand low-emission zones.
