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Home » Blog » Sales of New Electric Cars in Europe rose 79.9% in 1Q2020

Sales of New Electric Cars in Europe rose 79.9% in 1Q2020

Jiří Staník
August 7, 2020

Sales of electrically-chargeable vehicles amounted to 228 thousand in 1Q2020, up by 101 thousand in 1Q2020 compared to last year

Electric cars represented 7.47% of all new cars sold in 1Q2020, up from 3.06% a year ago.

Most electric vehicles have been sold in Germany (52.4 thousand) while France registered the biggest increase in sales when compared to last year.

Electric Chargeable Cars

Sales of new electrically-chargeable passenger cars (battery electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles) reached 228 thousand in the first quarter of 2020 in the enlarged Europe (EU plus Iceland, Norway and Switzerland), according to ACEA. This is 79.9% more, or 127 thousand more than in the previous year.

Share of electric chargeable vehicles increased to 7.47% of all new passenger cars sold in 1Q2020, up from 3.06% seen in the first quarter of 2019. Most electric vehicles (52.4 thousand) were sold in Germany (up 125% yoy), followed by France (35.4 thousand, up 144%), the United Kingdom with 31.9 thousand thousand cars (up 119%), 22.6 thousand new vehicles were registered in Norway (down 3.58%) and 18.5 thousand in Sweden (up 88.4%). The five largest countries accounted for 70.5% of total new vehicles registered in the first quarter of 2020:

As partly seen above, the sale of battery-electric (BEV) increased by 55.7% when compared to last year, while registration of plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEV) rose by 127%.

In relative terms, Norway liked the electric chargeable vehicles the most in the first quarter of 2020 with 69.7% of all new passenger cars sold followed by Iceland (47.2%) and Sweden (27.9%). On the other end of the scale was Lithuania with only 0.811%, Greece with 0.743% and Cyprus with just 0.136% of electric cars sold, as % of total:

Hybrid Electric and Other Alternatively-Powered Cars

When hybrid electric vehicles (cars that combine a conventional internal combustion engine system with an electric propulsion system) and other alternatively-powered cars (such as natural gas vehicles (NGV), LPG-fueled vehicles and ethanol (E85) vehicles) are included, total sales of alternatively-powered cars (other than using diesel or petrol) amounted to 578 thousand vehicles in the first quarter of 2020. This is 53.8% more, or 202 thousand more than in the previous year.

Together with electric chargeable vehicles, the share of total alternatively-powered vehicles increased to 18.9% of all new passenger cars sold in 1Q2020, up from 9.07% seen in the first quarter of 2019:

In relative terms, Norway liked the alternatively-powered vehicles the most in the first quarter of 2020 with 79.7% of all new passenger cars sold followed by Iceland (59.9%) and Sweden (37.8%). On the other hand, alternatively-fuelled cars represented only 9.33% of all cars sold in Slovakia, 7.77% in the Czech Republic and 5.96% in Slovenia, according to ACEA.

Petrol and Diesel-Powered Cars

Sales of traditionally-powered vehicles using petrol and diesel reached 2,464 thousand in the first quarter of 2020 in the enlarged Europe, according to ACEA. This is 34.2% less, or 1,280 thousand less than in the previous year.

Some 1,617 thousand petrol-powered vehicles were sold, down 33.4% when compared to a year ago. The share decreased to 52.9% of all new passenger cars sold in 1Q2020, down from 58.6% seen in the first quarter of 2019. Share of diesel-powered cars fell to 27.7% (from 31.8% in 1Q2019) with 847 thousand cars sold in the first quarter of 2020.

As a result, share of traditionally-powered cars amounted to 80.7% of all new passenger cars sold in 1Q2020, down from 90.3% seen in the first quarter of 2019.

In relative terms, Lithuania liked the petrol-fuelled vehicles the most in the first quarter of 2020 with 75.2% of all new passenger cars sold followed by Netherlands (71.5%) and Slovenia (69.0%). On the other hand, diesel-powered cars were preferred most in Estonia (44.4% of all cars sold), followed by Ireland (with 42.7%) and Austria (39.0%).

Relative and Absolute Sales of Cars by Power

The following charts show where the most cars are sold absolutely and relatively in Europe and elsewhere in the world:

1. Electric

2. Alternative

3. Diesel

4. Petrol

Sales of electric chargeable vehicles in Europe (thousands of vehicles)

Country 2Q2017 3Q2017 4Q2017 1Q2018 2Q2018 3Q2018 4Q2018 1Q2019 2Q2019 3Q2019 4Q2019 1Q2020
Austria 1.88 1.90 1.86 2.25 2.08 1.79 2.53 2.98 2.78 2.85 2.76 3.62
Belgium 4.04 3.37 3.75 3.98 3.69 2.84 2.85 4.32 4.46 3.88 5.35 7.69
Bulgaria 0.011 0.022 0.071 0.055 0.024 0.054 0.087 0.112 0.055 0.053 0.017 ...
Cyprus ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 0.004
Czechia 0.061 0.085 0.073 0.215 0.268 0.216 0.281 0.197 0.297 0.348 0.387 1.32
Denmark 0.165 0.366 0.731 1.05 1.14 1.40 1.10 2.23 2.12 2.34 2.72 4.16
Estonia 0.011 0.015 0.004 0.018 0.028 0.043 0.029 0.021 0.033 0.028 0.015 0.065
Finland 0.680 0.801 0.969 1.48 1.74 1.27 1.21 1.81 1.59 1.74 2.73 4.56
France 9.12 8.12 10.3 10.9 10.6 9.60 14.5 14.5 14.4 13.3 19.1 35.4
Germany 12.1 14.5 17.7 17.6 16.4 16.3 17.4 23.3 24.4 26.9 34.3 52.4
Greece 0.045 0.048 0.069 0.067 0.102 0.063 0.084 0.082 0.132 0.101 0.138 0.159
Hungary 0.277 0.270 0.461 0.481 0.538 0.438 0.613 0.613 0.633 0.797 0.896 1.00
Iceland ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 0.500 0.552 0.555 0.481 1.17
Ireland 0.100 0.341 0.072 0.573 0.389 0.897 0.113 2.05 0.736 1.44 0.569 2.69
Italy 1.26 1.19 1.32 1.86 2.51 2.83 2.52 2.16 5.27 4.22 5.37 8.35
Latvia 0.020 0.011 0.011 0.021 0.033 0.017 0.022 0.025 0.025 0.021 0.031 0.066
Lithuania 0.011 0.015 0.015 0.013 0.024 0.021 0.057 0.044 0.031 0.046 0.042 0.087
Luxembourg ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 0.790
Netherlands 2.37 2.69 3.52 4.51 5.18 6.55 12.1 11.7 11.3 15.3 33.2 12.0
Norway 13.7 15.9 19.2 16.2 19.6 16.2 20.7 23.4 20.6 17.6 18.1 22.6
Poland 0.203 0.317 0.369 0.340 0.330 0.286 0.365 0.620 0.737 0.541 0.763 1.28
Portugal 0.903 0.944 1.46 1.52 2.15 1.82 2.34 3.05 2.94 2.72 3.97 4.78
Romania 0.022 0.074 0.091 0.195 0.102 0.171 0.137 0.213 0.243 0.543 0.507 0.271
Slovakia 0.133 0.039 0.080 0.055 0.169 0.019 0.071 0.106 0.083 0.077 0.101 0.324
Slovenia 0.112 0.115 0.155 0.170 0.190 0.144 0.159 0.153 0.159 0.109 0.230 0.387
Spain 1.48 2.12 2.87 2.20 2.82 2.44 4.35 4.48 4.47 3.49 5.03 7.25
Sweden 4.27 4.91 6.68 6.21 6.41 7.33 8.38 9.81 9.17 8.83 12.6 18.5
Switzerland 1.83 2.08 2.82 2.25 2.23 2.01 3.03 3.81 3.67 3.75 6.25 5.42
UK 10.3 13.1 11.9 14.2 15.2 15.5 15.1 14.6 12.5 21.0 24.7 31.9
EU 65.1 73.3 86.5 88.3 94.0 90.2 110 127 123 133 180 228
Source: ACEA, Helgi Library

Sales of Hybrid Vehicles in Europe (thousands of vehicles)

Country 2Q2017 3Q2017 4Q2017 1Q2018 2Q2018 3Q2018 4Q2018 1Q2019 2Q2019 3Q2019 4Q2019 1Q2020
Austria 1.64 1.59 1.67 1.68 2.00 2.08 1.75 2.32 3.73 3.81 4.54 4.41
Belgium 3.22 2.64 2.46 4.49 4.12 3.18 3.38 5.29 4.01 4.27 3.62 6.00
Bulgaria 0.349 0.195 0.412 0.336 0.372 0.395 0.497 0.372 0.520 0.478 0.605 ...
Cyprus ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 0.178
Czechia 0.723 0.696 0.787 0.720 0.928 1.42 1.48 1.36 2.18 1.96 2.37 2.11
Denmark 2.35 1.99 1.51 1.75 2.24 2.09 2.13 3.28 2.21 2.04 2.55 2.32
Estonia 0.348 0.308 0.238 0.330 0.444 0.437 0.355 0.521 0.783 0.672 0.717 0.795
Finland 2.24 2.38 1.70 2.99 3.38 3.20 2.29 3.79 4.25 4.29 3.24 5.09
France 15.1 15.1 20.1 21.8 23.6 20.5 25.9 23.0 27.0 25.5 31.4 30.1
Germany 13.3 14.8 15.2 19.8 24.4 27.5 27.1 40.7 45.8 50.4 57.0 63.1
Greece 0.509 0.613 0.737 0.849 0.856 0.816 1.11 1.17 1.69 1.90 1.87 2.59
Hungary 1.01 0.828 0.994 1.12 1.44 1.58 1.50 1.71 2.11 2.35 3.00 5.68
Iceland ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 0.164 0.367 0.283 0.231 0.298
Ireland 0.511 1.47 0.091 3.89 0.817 2.11 0.108 4.93 1.86 3.18 0.215 6.34
Italy 17.1 13.5 17.4 20.2 21.8 18.3 21.4 27.3 28.3 22.7 31.4 34.7
Latvia 0.070 0.081 0.124 0.084 0.083 0.263 0.242 0.279 0.482 0.384 0.323 0.396
Lithuania 0.147 0.219 0.214 0.168 0.681 0.729 0.493 0.483 0.926 0.772 1.11 1.08
Luxembourg ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 0.853
Netherlands 4.26 4.52 4.25 6.44 6.21 4.88 3.93 5.09 6.45 5.74 7.17 11.5
Norway 5.18 5.10 4.80 3.61 5.17 4.11 3.44 3.66 5.60 4.30 3.99 3.22
Poland 3.78 3.55 4.85 5.28 5.31 5.51 6.59 6.05 10.2 10.00 12.1 13.5
Portugal 1.16 1.16 1.38 1.66 2.02 1.81 1.76 1.93 2.74 2.05 2.70 2.83
Romania 0.768 0.652 0.570 0.765 0.768 1.28 1.03 1.45 1.46 2.41 2.15 2.25
Slovakia 0.462 0.519 0.558 0.549 0.654 0.626 0.604 0.587 1.04 1.07 1.62 1.33
Slovenia 0.259 0.263 0.286 0.405 0.340 0.400 0.314 0.431 0.627 0.538 0.406 0.461
Spain 14.2 13.6 15.0 16.6 21.0 19.1 19.1 22.4 27.9 25.4 33.0 29.4
Sweden 4.53 4.81 5.60 5.00 7.46 3.18 4.88 4.16 7.05 6.53 12.4 5.44
Switzerland 2.30 2.13 2.21 2.07 2.78 2.87 3.55 3.45 5.26 5.45 7.84 6.05
UK 15.0 22.4 13.8 22.5 20.9 26.2 15.2 26.3 27.1 45.5 38.2 68.2
EU 110 115 117 145 160 155 150 192 222 234 266 310
Source: ACEA, Helgi Library

Sales of Alternatively-Powered Vehicles Other Than Electric in Europe (thousands of vehicles)

Country 2Q2017 3Q2017 4Q2017 1Q2018 2Q2018 3Q2018 4Q2018 1Q2019 2Q2019 3Q2019 4Q2019 1Q2020
Austria 0.107 0.098 0.154 0.235 0.257 0.099 0.051 0.061 0.185 0.139 0.195 0.102
Belgium 0.690 0.769 0.688 1.13 1.86 0.853 0.382 0.628 1.48 0.911 0.680 0.821
Bulgaria ... ... ... ... ... 0.242 0.050 0.174 0.803 0.823 0.419 ...
Czechia 1.04 0.965 1.05 1.00 0.926 0.482 0.342 0.363 0.725 0.674 0.435 0.476
Denmark ... 0.028 0.004 ... 0.003 ... 0.004 0.001 ... ... 0.005 ...
Estonia 0.017 0.001 0.003 0.002 0.002 0.002 0.003 0.012 0.216 0.307 0.173 0.276
Finland 0.097 0.129 0.164 0.295 0.450 0.373 0.043 0.072 0.555 0.737 0.778 0.735
France 0.300 0.357 0.871 0.687 0.967 0.589 0.800 1.01 0.796 2.89 4.01 0.584
Germany 1.63 2.06 2.89 3.97 5.74 3.68 2.08 3.41 4.65 4.13 2.69 2.31
Greece 0.043 0.088 0.145 0.272 0.343 0.215 0.200 0.314 0.623 0.800 0.596 0.376
Hungary 0.003 0.011 0.015 0.012 0.014 0.007 0.017 0.006 0.007 ... ... 0.002
Iceland ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 0.003 0.021 0.018 0.013 0.015
Italy 42.5 33.9 39.3 46.0 49.1 33.6 33.1 41.4 47.1 43.6 41.9 29.4
Latvia 0.019 0.020 0.018 0.010 0.021 0.010 0.018 0.035 0.042 0.038 0.020 0.020
Luxembourg ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 0.003
Netherlands 0.565 0.674 0.534 0.696 0.448 0.605 0.159 0.186 0.304 0.099 0.158 0.114
Norway ... 0.002 0.037 0.007 0.005 ... 0.050 0.007 0.003 0.003 0.003 0.001
Poland 2.57 2.42 2.55 2.17 2.16 1.76 1.46 2.06 2.85 2.90 0.344 0.602
Portugal 0.355 0.482 0.534 0.593 0.527 0.248 0.541 0.563 0.731 0.646 0.212 0.106
Romania ... ... ... 0.177 0.348 0.566 0.268 0.304 0.295 0.742 0.074 0.093
Slovakia 0.207 0.188 0.176 0.245 0.199 0.183 0.123 0.156 0.088 0.065 0.082 0.112
Slovenia 0.141 0.115 0.056 0.056 0.052 0.033 0.054 0.030 0.039 0.022 0.017 0.005
Spain 0.903 1.24 2.22 3.01 5.95 6.09 5.79 5.65 8.09 7.51 3.94 2.34
Sweden 0.762 1.46 1.66 1.06 1.28 1.44 0.399 0.424 1.32 2.33 2.04 1.10
Switzerland 0.154 0.210 0.240 0.279 0.320 0.162 0.049 0.091 0.425 0.377 0.360 0.259
EU 52.1 45.3 53.3 62.0 71.0 51.2 46.0 57.0 71.3 69.8 59.1 39.8
Source: ACEA, Helgi Library

Sales of Diesel-fuelled Vehicles in Europe (thousands of vehicles)

Country 2Q2017 3Q2017 4Q2017 1Q2018 2Q2018 3Q2018 4Q2018 1Q2019 2Q2019 3Q2019 4Q2019 1Q2020
Austria ... ... ... 37.9 42.1 33.9 26.2 31.5 36.2 30.7 27.9 21.3
Belgium ... ... ... 62.2 57.5 45.0 30.3 46.1 49.6 41.1 35.7 40.5
Bulgaria ... ... ... 4.81 5.39 5.33 4.18 3.94 3.99 4.03 3.75 ...
Cyprus ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 0.901
Czechia ... ... ... 21.7 23.9 17.2 16.3 16.7 18.2 16.7 17.6 14.7
Denmark ... ... ... 20.3 21.1 15.6 15.3 17.3 14.8 13.5 14.5 13.0
Estonia ... ... ... 3.15 3.61 2.77 2.60 3.21 3.25 2.70 2.16 2.51
Finland ... ... ... 8.48 8.24 6.21 5.78 6.56 5.75 4.53 4.04 3.95
France ... ... ... 226 253 183 183 191 209 160 196 121
Germany ... ... ... 284 307 265 256 291 318 277 267 224
Greece ... ... ... 10.5 11.2 8.16 7.00 7.83 8.66 8.21 5.65 5.79
Hungary ... ... ... 7.46 9.16 8.54 7.18 7.45 8.44 6.67 8.50 6.95
Iceland ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 0.879 1.46 0.685 0.490 0.452
Ireland ... ... ... 40.4 7.94 18.6 1.41 30.8 7.52 14.7 1.48 21.9
Italy ... ... ... 316 285 188 187 236 225 142 159 118
Latvia ... ... ... 1.71 1.78 1.59 1.55 1.80 1.65 1.72 1.60 1.48
Lithuania ... ... ... 2.40 2.37 1.61 1.99 2.17 2.04 2.24 1.91 1.49
Luxembourg ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 4.60
Netherlands ... ... ... 21.1 14.9 12.7 8.51 10.7 8.77 7.36 6.33 5.47
Norway ... ... ... 6.29 7.29 6.41 6.27 5.35 6.39 5.40 5.69 3.49
Poland ... ... ... 32.4 33.5 31.8 34.2 29.6 27.3 25.6 28.5 19.7
Portugal ... ... ... 34.1 37.0 26.2 23.7 24.4 26.5 18.5 20.1 15.7
Romania ... ... ... 13.4 12.8 19.0 8.02 10.9 9.79 12.1 10.5 8.30
Slovakia ... ... ... 11.4 11.5 6.32 6.62 6.44 6.73 5.89 6.44 4.99
Slovenia ... ... ... 6.75 6.32 5.12 4.08 5.71 5.74 4.31 4.82 5.48
Spain ... ... ... 131 141 113 88.8 90.2 101 73.7 85.0 59.7
Sweden ... ... ... 36.7 57.0 16.1 24.2 27.0 33.4 23.4 31.6 16.4
Switzerland ... ... ... 22.7 25.5 19.8 22.1 20.3 22.5 16.8 19.8 13.6
UK ... ... ... 241 188 178 143 192 155 141 105 91.4
EU ... ... ... 1,603 1,575 1,235 1,115 1,316 1,317 1,060 1,071 847
Source: ACEA, Helgi Library

Sales of Petrol-fuelled Vehicles in Europe (thousands of vehicles)

Country 2Q2017 3Q2017 4Q2017 1Q2018 2Q2018 3Q2018 4Q2018 1Q2019 2Q2019 3Q2019 4Q2019 1Q2020
Austria ... ... ... 48.4 55.9 45.0 34.8 44.0 52.1 44.8 35.7 25.2
Belgium ... ... ... 93.7 98.6 72.5 57.0 99.5 95.0 78.6 65.4 72.4
Bulgaria ... ... ... 4.55 5.55 5.03 3.67 5.23 6.02 4.73 5.25 ...
Cyprus ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 1.62
Czechia ... ... ... 44.2 49.8 45.0 36.2 41.7 48.7 43.8 39.7 33.0
Denmark ... ... ... 36.5 42.3 33.3 30.0 43.5 36.9 33.6 32.2 29.3
Estonia ... ... ... 5.05 5.56 4.77 3.41 4.43 5.55 4.57 4.03 3.46
Finland ... ... ... 21.2 21.4 17.1 13.4 16.9 19.0 16.4 15.5 13.9
France ... ... ... 297 343 261 287 324 362 274 322 178
Germany ... ... ... 553 607 522 460 522 576 533 506 359
Greece ... ... ... 15.0 23.0 12.4 10.9 16.9 28.2 16.2 13.1 12.5
Hungary ... ... ... 22.5 28.0 23.3 22.7 24.6 29.0 30.7 30.4 19.0
Iceland ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 1.16 2.14 1.00 0.675 0.543
Ireland ... ... ... 26.9 6.21 14.3 0.844 26.3 6.51 13.8 0.868 19.1
Italy ... ... ... 190 188 127 174 231 239 172 211 156
Latvia ... ... ... 2.44 3.05 2.47 2.14 2.60 3.30 2.84 2.47 2.29
Lithuania ... ... ... 3.90 6.42 6.01 5.58 7.55 10.3 8.10 8.60 8.07
Luxembourg ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 5.67
Netherlands ... ... ... 103 91.0 81.9 59.8 88.4 84.2 77.0 68.5 74.1
Norway ... ... ... 7.71 10.9 7.99 6.02 6.06 7.17 5.14 3.99 3.08
Poland ... ... ... 99.6 91.9 91.0 85.9 101 97.4 93.4 103 72.5
Portugal ... ... ... 25.3 29.7 18.1 17.3 29.5 36.3 21.5 22.8 21.9
Romania ... ... ... 14.1 17.4 25.5 14.9 22.9 24.0 36.6 24.3 17.1
Slovakia ... ... ... 15.3 18.8 16.7 14.9 16.6 20.2 17.2 16.9 12.2
Slovenia ... ... ... 13.0 14.4 11.1 9.78 13.4 13.4 11.5 10.3 9.87
Spain ... ... ... 188 223 167 161 194 233 163 166 120
Sweden ... ... ... 38.5 66.0 28.3 34.0 32.5 43.1 38.8 49.7 24.7
Switzerland ... ... ... 44.8 55.0 42.6 45.7 44.4 53.2 42.8 51.0 30.1
UK ... ... ... 441 371 377 283 468 373 386 281 292
EU ... ... ... 2,356 2,473 2,058 1,874 2,428 2,506 2,170 2,090 1,617
Source: ACEA, Helgi Library

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Jiří Staník
Jiří Staník
CEO & Founder
He spent nearly two decades analysing companies in the region of Central and Eastern Europe, primarily in the area of financial services. Jiri built and headed Equity Research at Wood & Company, a Central European brokerage firm, and got several awards (such as The Best Equity Research or The Best Analyst by Euromoney).
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