Status: 07/23/2021 12:53 p.m.
Electric cars are in demand in Europe like never before – their market share is increasing rapidly, according to industry information. However, there are huge differences in the number of registrations between the EU countries.
Vehicles with electrified drives are enjoying increasing popularity. According to the latest figures from the European manufacturers’ association ACEA, the market share of all-electric cars among new registrations in the EU doubled in the second quarter of this year. It rose from 3.5 percent in the previous three months to 7.5 percent now. The share of plug-in hydribs (PHEV) in new registrations was slightly higher at 8.4 percent. The demand for hybrid cars (HEV), in which the battery charges while driving, also continued to grow strongly. Their share of new registrations was just under a fifth in the second quarter.
Overall, the market share of e-cars and hybrid vehicles among EU-wide new registrations rose to 10.5 percent. At the same time, the market share for gasoline and diesel vehicles fell. Together, however, the two types of drive still accounted for around 62 percent of new registrations in the second quarter, compared with more than 80 percent in the same period of the previous year. New registrations of gasoline and diesel cars rose by 25 and almost 8 percent, respectively, within a year.
Overall, the European car market continues to recover from the Corona crisis. Regardless of the type of drive, new registrations rose between April and the end of June – compared to the previous year’s quarter, which was weak due to the pandemic.
Three quarters of all e-cars are sold in just four countries
However, there are very large differences in the spread of e-cars within the EU. The market share in ten member states, especially in Eastern Europe, is still below three percent. In the countries of Northern Europe and the Netherlands, however, more than 15 percent of new registrations in the second quarter were battery-powered cars.
“Consumer acceptance of electric cars is directly related to a country’s per capita income,” said the ACEA association. There is a clear east-west and a pronounced north-south divide. Countries with a total market share of electric cars of less than three percent have an average per capita income of less than 17,000 euros per year. This is the case in Central and Eastern Europe as well as in Greece. In addition, there are very few charging points in these countries. They only have one percent of the EU-wide number of stations.
In contrast, electric cars only have a market share of over 15 percent in the affluent countries of Northern Europe. The average per capita income there is more than 46,000 euros. In addition, almost three quarters of all electric car sales in the EU in the second quarter were concentrated in four countries: Sweden, the Netherlands, Finland and Denmark. The remaining quarter of sales were spread across the other 23 member states.