Sweden Plugin EV Share 52% In February, Kia Niro Leads

Sweden’s plugin electric vehicle share hit 51.6% in February 2022, up from 34.8% year on year. Full electrics took 25.6% share, dramatic growth from 6.1% year on year. Overall auto market volumes were 21,136, some 7% down from the last two years. The Kia Niro was Sweden’s best selling electric in February.

February’s combined result of 51.6% comprised 25.6% full battery electrics (BEVs) and 26.0% plugin hybrids (PHEVs). This continues the reweighing, since mid 2021, towards parity, from the previous PHEV dominant landscape. We can expect BEVs to dominate over PHEVs again next month when Tesla’s ships come in (see chart below for annual patterns).

Diesel-only powertrains took 13.5% share in February 2022, down from 20.3% year on year.  Meanwhile petrol-only took 24.4%, down from 37.2% YoY. Combustion-only powertrains therefore now combine to 37.9% of the market, from 57.5% YoY, a dramatic drop.

Sweden’s Favourite BEVs

The evergreen Kia Niro once again took the top spot in February, remarkable considering it is about to be refreshed (and get even better). Its larger and newer sibling, the Kia EV6, took 9th spot.

The Polestar 2 put in its best performance for a long time, taking 3rd spot behind the Tesla Model Y, and scraping just ahead of the Volkswagen ID.4, last year’s winner. The ID.4 may still be in hangover from the December push, but will probably challenge again for the top spot in the coming months.

The trailing quarter results (below) give us a more even view of the race.

Notice that, like in Norway, the Tesla Model Y has already overtaken its Model 3 sibling. The Model Y already took Sweden’s 2nd spot in the final quarter of 2021 and will challenge even harder once Tesla’s Berlin Gigafactory gets cranking. Does VW have a plan to boost volumes of the ID.4 to keep up? How about Kia?

Outlook

Sweden has started the year with plugins strong, with January and February already accumulating 52.2% share. This is with last year’s BEV leader, the VW ID.4, still in a partial hangover, and Tesla not yet showing up in full force.

Given this, I’d expect March to see above 55% plugin share, with BEVs over 30% share.

As of now, I’d guess the final months of 2022 could see close to 80% plugin share, and the year overall close to 60% share. How do you see it panning out? What new BEV models are you looking forward to, that might prove popular in Sweden? Please share your thoughts in the comments.