Europe ended 2022 with another strong performance in the plug-in car segment, signifying that the continent is progressively adopting clean mobility. EV Volumes data shared by Jose Pontes revealed that the European passenger plug-in electric car market unstoppably grew despite the persistent decline in the continent’s overall auto market (down 4% YoY).
Plug-In Electric Car Sales in Europe – December 2022
Europe had a record-breaking year-on-year sales growth of 46% to 413,483 new passenger plug-in cars and a market share of 38% in December 2022, Jose Pontes reports via CleanTechnica.
Remarkably, that figure marks a significant increase in passenger plug-in car registrations, considering that the previous high was only about 282,000 units in November.
Apart from that, Europe also had remarkable growth in its all-electric car market, with record-setting sales of 275,277 units. That figure represents a YoY increase of 51% and a 25% overall market share.
Meanwhile, plug-in hybrids had 138,206 registrations, indicating a YoY growth of 46%.
New plug-in car registrations:
| Category | Sales and Growth | Market Share |
| BEVs | 275,277, up 51% year-over-year | 25% share |
| PHEVs | 138,206, up 40% year-over-year | 13% share |
| Total | 413,483, up 46% year-over-year | 38.0% share |
Plug-In Electric Car Sales in Europe – FY 2022
Europe’s plug-in car certainly enjoyed a successful year in 2022. Last year, the continent recorded 2.6 million new passenger plug-in electric car registrations, representing a significant growth in the overall market share to 23% from just 19% a year ago.
| Category | Sales and Growth | Market Share |
| BEVs | Nearly *1.58 million | 14% share |
| PHEVs | Nearly *1.02 million | 9% share |
| Total | 2,602,431 | 23% share |
As you can see above, Europe’s BEV market held 14% of the overall market, which was only 10% a year ago.
Top plug-in models
Unsurprisingly, Tesla EVs dominated Europe’s plug-in car segment. Tesla Model Y had a monthly EV record of 32,442 units, beating its rivals. Notably, it was also the most popular car in the overall auto market in the continent.
Meanwhile, its sibling Tesla Model 3, landed second place with sales of 20,335 units, a 23 percent decline from the previous year.
The two Tesla EVs were trailed by Volkswagen ID.4 (13,685), Volkswagen ID.3 (11,561), and Ford Kuga PHEV (10,726).
December results:
| Models | Sales |
| Tesla Model Y | 32,442 |
| Tesla Model 3 | 20,335 |
| Volkswagen ID.4 | 13,685 |
| Volkswagen ID.3 | 11,561 |
| Ford Kuga PHEV | 10,726 |
| Dacia Spring | 9,694 |
| Fiat 500 electric | 8,333 |
| Renault Megane E-Tech | 8,084 |
| Volvo XC40 Recharge | 7,732 |
| Cupra Born | 7,489 |
FY 2022 results:
The two Tesla Models maintained their top positions in Europe’s plug-in car market. The Tesla Model Y continues to lead with 138,373 registrations, while the Model 3 had 91,257 units. There were also no changes at the third spot, which was firmly secured by the Volkswagen ID.4 with 68,409 registrations.
The top five are completed by the Fiat 500 electric with 66,732 registrations and Ford Kuga PHEV with 55,018 units.
| Models | Sales |
| Tesla Model Y | 138,373 |
| Tesla Model 3 | 91,257 |
| Volkswagen ID.4 | 68,409 |
| Fiat 500 electric | 66,732 |
| Ford Kuga PHEV | 55,018 |
| Volkswagen ID.3 | 53,287 |
| Skoda Enyaq iV | 52,635 |
| Dacia Spring | 48,948 |
| Peugeot e-208 | 46,834 |
| Audi Q4 e-tron | 42,540 |
| Hyundai Kona Electric | 41,880 |
| Kia Niro EV (e-Niro) | 38,633 |
| Hyundai Ioniq 5 | 38,080 |
| Renault Zoe | 37,313 |
| Mini Cooper SE | 34,828 |
| Audi e-tron | 34,547 |
| BMW 3 Series PHEV | 34,520 |
| Renault Megane E-Tech | 33,187 |
| Cupra Born | 32,615 |
| Polestar 2 | 32,143 |
Top brands and auto groups – 2022
Obviously, American EV giant Tesla is the top plug-in brand in Europe, as demonstrated by the sales of its two EV models. However, it landed at the 6th spot on the automotive group ranking.
Top plug-in brands (share YTD):
| Brands | Share |
| Tesla | 9.0% |
| BMW | 8.6% |
| Volkswagen | 8.4% |
| Mercedes-Benz | 8.2% |
| Audi | 5.6% |
| Kia | 5.4% |
| Volvo | 5.3% |
| Peugeot | 4.9% |
Top plug-in automotive groups (share YTD):
| Groups | Share |
| Volkswagen Group Volkswagen brand Audi | 20.6% 8.4% 5.6% |
| Stellantis | 14.6% |
| BMW Group BMW brand | 10.5% 8.6% |
| Hyundai Motor Group Kia Hyundai | 10.1 % 5.4% 4.7% |
| Mercedes Group Mercedes-Benz brand | 9.0% 8.2% |
| Tesla | 9.0% |
| Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance | 8.7% |
| Geely–Volvo | 7.6% |
