Share of EV Sales in Europe Increased During COVID-19 Impacted Q2

In Q2 2020, the market share of EV increased to 7.2 percent of total car sales in Europe, compared to a 2.4 percent share during the same period last year.

In the second quarter (Q2) of 2020, the market share of electric vehicles (EV) increased to 7.2 percent of total car sales in Europe, compared to a 2.4 percent share during the same period last year. The overall decline in passenger car registrations as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic affected the diesel and petrol segments in particular, although together still accounting for more than 80 percent of car sales.

According to the data provided by the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA), during Q2 – passenger cars with conventional internal combustion engines took the biggest hit from the coronavirus crisis, with sales falling by more than half across the EU from April to June 2020. However, during the same period, registrations of EVs rose by 53.3 percent to 129,344 new cars across the EU. This resulted in the overall market share of ECVs going from 2.4 percent in 2019 to 7.2 percent in the second quarter of 2020. Sales of plug-in hybrids (PHEV) provided a strong boost to this growth (+133.9 percent) with 66,128 new cars. The increase in registrations of battery electric vehicles (BEV) was more modest (+12.7 percent), totalling 63,216 units.

PC: ACEA

Despite a slight decline during the second quarter (-7.2 percent), hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) remained the bestselling alternatively-powered vehicle type in the European Union, with 172,149 units registered in total and representing 9.6 percent of the EU car market.

Further on, sales of passenger cars running on the alternative fuels ethanol (E85), liquid petroleum gas (LPG) and natural gas (NGV) halved from April to June this year (-50.5 percent), mainly due to a strong contraction of the Italian market, which is the biggest one for these fuel types. With 34,656 units sold over the period, alternative fuels held a market share of 1.9 percent during the second quarter.

All alternatively-powered vehicles (APV) combined represented 18.7 percent of the EU car market – 335,906 units were sold from April to June 2020, or 1.1 percent less than in 2019. Among the four major markets, France and Germany posted positive results (+51.1 percent and +20.6 percent respectively), mainly driven by sales of plug-in hybrids. By contrast, both Spain (-46.2 percent) and Italy (-30.2 percent) saw sharp declines in the second quarter, owing to the negative performance of the hybrid and LPG segments respectively.