Blog Post
Electric Car Sales Increased across Europe in the 1st Quarter
Richard Simmonds • May 14, 2020
Data released by the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) has shown that sales of Electric vehicles (Evs) across Europe increased by 100.7% during the first quarter of 2020 even as the Covid-19 pandemic began to spread.
Electric vehicles growing in popularity?
The report showed that 167,132 new Electric vehicles were registered during the first three months of 2020. Sales of Battery electric vehicles (BEV) rose by 68.4% on the previous year and plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEV) increased by 161.7%.
Hybrid vehicles, however, remained the top seller with new registrations rising by 45.1% year-on-year and now makes up 9.4% of the total EU car market.
When compared to diesel car sales it seems as though Evs are becoming increasingly popular. Sales of diesel cars tumbled by 32.6% reducing their market share from 33.2% in 2019 to 29.9% in 2020.
Petrol car sales tumbled too as the Covid-19 Pandemic forced the closure of car dealerships across the EU. Sales of petrol cars declined sharply by 32.2%, a fall to 1.3 million in 2020 compared to 2.2 million the year before.
Car sales plummet in the UK
In the UK car sales fell to their lowest level since the Second World War because of the Covid-19 lockdown. According to data by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, sales tumbled by a staggering 97% with just 4,321 new cars being registered in April.
During the same month last year, 161,064 new sales were recorded. The latest data highlights just how damaging the lockdown has and will be to the wider UK economy.
As seen in Europe, however, electric cars offered a glimmer of hope for the car industry. Sales of Evs declined by just 9.7% meaning that 32% of all sales for the record low month was comprised of electric cars.
A total of 37,850 battery electric vehicles were sold in the UK last year. While that number was a 144% increase on 2018, it still represented just 1.6% of the total UK car market. By comparison, 1,498,640 petrol-engine cars were sold (64.8% of the total market), with 583,488 diesel (25.2%).
The drive toward electric vehicles looks set to remain despite the impacts of the pandemic. Currently, there are no plans to postpone the ban on petrol, diesel and hybrid cars.
Originally the ban was due to begin in 2040 but has now been set for 2035 after experts claimed that the original date would be too late if the UK is to hit its net zero carbon target.
Further Reading
The UK goes coal free for a month as electricity demand fell to near-record lows
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