This highlights one of the main barriers: as purchasing an electric car requires a significant initial investment, the transition to electric transport is not equally easy for all residents of the country.
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According to the June 2026 open data from “Sodra”, the municipality ranking shows the highest average insured incomes were in Neringa – 3,587 EUR before taxes. Next were Vilnius city – 2,970 EUR, Vilnius district – 2,619 EUR, Kaunas city – 2,600 EUR, and Kaunas district – 2,566 EUR.
Data collected by car dealers “Wheelstreet” shows that these five Lithuanian municipalities with the highest average incomes also stand out with a significantly higher share of electric cars. In all of them, this share exceeds the national average of 1.82%, with Neringa reaching as high as 5.15 percent.
1.6 times higher income – almost seven times more electric cars
An even more striking difference is seen when comparing Vilnius and Kalvarija. In June 2026, the average insured income in Vilnius city was 2,970 EUR, while in Kalvarija it was the lowest among all municipalities – 1,871 EUR. Thus, incomes in the capital were about 59% higher, but the share of electric cars differs almost sevenfold: 3.48% in Vilnius and only 0.52% in Kalvarija.
“A person with higher income can consider not only the price of the car today but also how much it will cost to charge and operate such a vehicle over five or ten years. For a buyer with lower income, a difference of a few thousand euros at the time of purchase often outweighs the future savings from lower electricity or maintenance costs,” says Ignas Petrikonis, head of the charging solutions company “Evioni”.
This suggests that the mere reduction in electric car prices will not quickly eliminate the regional gap. On the other hand, financial incentives must be designed so that those residents for whom the price difference is the biggest barrier can actually benefit from them.
From 2027, it is planned to compensate residents of some lower-income regions up to 90% of the electric car price: up to 20,000 EUR when buying new and up to 12,000 EUR when buying a used car. However, entrepreneur and investor Mindaugas Busila points out that even with such support, a person may need their own funds to purchase and maintain the car.
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“Helping families in the regions is necessary. However, the state is looking for a person who is poor enough to receive support, wealthy enough to pay extra, creditworthy for leasing, and able to maintain an electric car for five years,” says M. Busila.
The share of electric cars in company fleets is four times higher
The fact that the choice of electric cars is strongly influenced not only by technological but also financial conditions is also shown by company car fleets. Companies own only about 12% of all passenger cars in Lithuania, but they own as much as 37% of electric cars.
This difference is also due to financial incentives applied to companies, the possibility in some cases to use VAT deduction, as well as greater opportunities to invest in their own charging infrastructure.
This is also important when assessing regional differences: 55% of electric cars owned by companies are registered in Vilnius County.
Thus, electric cars concentrate not only where residents earn more but also where more economically strong companies are concentrated.
However, income is not the only factor.
This is well illustrated by Visaginas, where the share of electric cars is the lowest in Lithuania – only 0.27%, although the municipality is not last in terms of income. The choice is also influenced by the age of the car fleet, type of housing, the possibility to install private charging access, company concentration, and the needs of local residents.
“If we want electric cars not to concentrate only in regions with the highest incomes, the initial price barrier must be reduced. Targeted support measures can help with this, but in the long run, the most important breakthrough will happen when the supply of used electric cars costing 10–15 thousand euros significantly increases,” summarizes I. Petrikonis.
