Electric car sales accounted for nearly half of all new passenger car registrations in the European Union from January to November period, Reuters reports, citing the ACEA’s latest data.
This notable growth in electric car registrations aligns with the EU’s overall car registration increase of 6.7% last month, marking its 16th month of growth in a row.
Electric cars growth
As per the data released on Wednesday, battery-electric vehicle (BEV) registrations surged 16.4% year-on-year to 144,378 units. It is indeed remarkable, considering its sales decline in Europe’s largest EV market (Germany) by 22.5% to 44,942 vehicles.
As expected, hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) continue to lead the electrified market with a 28.7% YoY growth owing to their popularity in three leading markets: Germany (+38.4%), France (+35.8%), and Italy (+30.2%).
On the other hand, plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) registrations suffered a notable drop of 22.1% to 72,002 units in November.
Petrol-powered cars only reported a 4.2% growth, while diesel cars declined by 10.3%.
Presented below are the market share of cars per power source in the EU:
| Powertrain | Share |
| Petrol | 32.7% |
| HEV | 27.4% |
| BEV | 16.3% |
| Diesel | 12.2% |
| PHEV | 8.1% |
| Other | 3.3% |
As you can observe, electrified vehicles, including BEVs, PHEVs, and HEVs, reached a total market share of 51.8%.
Call for a “robust” industrial strategy
Despite the notable increase in electrified vehicles in the EU, the ACEA warned earlier this month that the region may lag behind without a robust industrial strategy.
ACEA’s concern is based on a new report by France’s Ecole Polytechnique University that underlined the effectiveness of the US electric vehicle incentives under the Inflation Reduction Act. It also indicated China’s strong and reliable EV supply chain.
On the other hand, Europe such kind of policies to improve its electric vehicle supply chain and incentives to encourage people to join the shift.
“Unlike China and the US, the EU lacks a robust industrial strategy to shore up electric vehicle manufacturing.”
Sigrid De Vries, ACEA Director General
Therefore, the report called for the EU to launch its own industrial strategy to avoid losing against China and the US in electric vehicle production. Such a strategy is indeed crucial for the region to boost its electric vehicle adoption further. It can also significantly strengthen its EV manufacturing industry.
