Electric vehicle fever has definitely caught on in Germany, with March coming in as a record month to echo France’s record month. Germany had over 6,700 electric car registrations last month, a 52% increase year over year (YoY). The plug-in vehicle share of the overall car market was 2%.
France registered a record 5,402 plug-in cars in March, up 41% year over year (YoY). With all plug-in drivetrains working together (fully electric cars +40%, plug-in hybrids +45%), the plug-in market was pulled up to 10,892 units in 2018, up 17% YoY.
The European passenger plug-in market scored over 22,000 registrations in February 2018, growing 39% compared to the same period last year (YoY) and pulling the year-to-date count to almost 47,000, a 35% increase over the same period in 2017. The plug-in vehicle market now holds a 1.9% market share in Europe. Unfortunately, plug-in hybrids (+54% YoY) continue to outrun fully electric vehicles (+26%), thus increasing by two percentage points their lead over fully electric cars (55% vs 45%).
The French EV passenger car market saw some 3,100 registrations in February, up 12% year over year (YoY). However, the growth comes only from PHEVs (+115%), as BEVs (-14%) continue to sit in the red (-28% this year). Are buyers holding out for the new LEAF, the Tesla Model 3, and a new Zoe?
February had 1,058 registrations in February 2018, up 116% compared to February 2017, with fully electric cars (BEVs) making for the vast majority of the market (85%). The strong BEV month contributed decisively to the current 2.8% plug-in vehicle (PEV) market share, a good improvement over the 2.2% share of last year.
The search for cleaner and more efficient transportation has resulted in a multitude of solutions. Ways to make the internal combustion engine powertrain more efficient, replacing the fuel with alternate fuels like LPG and LNG, synthetic fuels to mix with the fossil fuels, and, ultimately, replacing the internal combustion engine (ICE) completely are all options on the table.
The European passenger plug-in car market started the 2018 season with almost 26,000 registrations, growing 36% compared to the same period last year, a promising start that unfortunately is being made for the most part thanks to growth in plug-in hybrids (+44% year over year). In fact, plug-in hybrids now represent more than half (53%) of deliveries.
The European passenger plug-in market ended the 2017 season with a near record performance, growing 11% compared to the same period last year by registering some 33,700 units, just a whisker below the all-time record of December 2015 (33,827) — which, let’s not forget, was inflated by fiscal changes that happened in the Netherlands, Sweden, and Denmark in January 2016.
Here’s an overview of the 20 most compelling plug-in hybrid electric vehicles now available for purchase in the USA.
The European passenger plug-in vehicle market had its best not-last-month-of-quarter record in November, with over 29,000 vehicles delivered to happy customers. This is the 7th time in the last 8 months that we saw +50% growth rates.
