The European passenger plug-in vehicle (PEV) market seems to have reached a turning point, with October growing 56% in comparison to the same period last year, to over 27,000 units. This is the 5th month in the last 6 with +50% growth rates.
The European passenger plug-in market returned from the holiday season with fully charged batteries, growing almost a third (+32%) compared to the same period last year by registering some 33,700 units. That’s 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.
The plug-in market in Europe had a surprisingly strong August month, with over 22,000 registrations, up 68% year over year (YoY). That pushes the plug-in market share up to 1.7%.
All signs point to a changing of the winds in Germany with regards to plug-in vehicles. Emissions scandal after emissions scandal have raked the confidence of the public in the German auto industry and many have started to take action. Sales number from August show that nearly 2% (1.88% to be exact) of new vehicle sales in Germany were plug-in vehicles, with fully electric vehicles up +137%. That’s a higher percentage share of new vehicle sales than in the United States.
The US electric car market has continued to grow at a rapid pace in the past year — led by California’s particularly strong electric car market, of course. From January through August, sales of 8 fully electric cars* grew 82% in the country. Sales of 6 plug-in hybrid cars were up 28%. Overall, that meant sales of these 14 plug-in car were up 40%.
Not that long ago, only a few electric cars were on the market. Nowadays, there are a few dozen. We certainly have a few favorites here on CleanTechnica, but every plug-in car really has its own selling points. I’m sure I don’t have a comprehensive list of these in my head, and many of the points are definitely as subjective as opinions about music or movies, but below are many of my thoughts on why I’d recommend various plug-in models.
The European plug-in car market started its usual holiday season in July, down almost a third compared to the previous month (summertime = lower sales). There were some 19,600 registrations. But that is still up 41% regarding the same month last year, so the growth trend continues. Year to date, the market is up 34% this year, with the EV share now standing at a record 1.6%.
Now that we have several official specs for the Tesla Model 3, I wanted to do a thorough update of how the Model 3 competes against comparably priced offerings from BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Lexus, Toyota, Acura, and Jaguar. Last week, I commented at length about subjective features of the Model 3 that I think will make it a much more attractive offer for drivers and passengers — openness, torque, serenity, and 21st century controls. I honestly think these are the core factors (along with the convenience of home charging) that will lead to the Model 3 dominating its market segment. However, I know many people just want to see the numbers and I am sometimes in search of specific numbers for various comparisons, so this article is primarily aimed at providing several key specs across a few variations of the Model 3, the Tesla Model S, and 22 gas-powered competitors.
The European passenger plug-in market had a near-record month in June, with 28,000 registrations, up 54% over the same month last year. For the year through June, the market is up 30% this year, with the EV share now standing at a record 1.5%.
The European passenger plug-in market had more than 21,000 registrations last month, up 48% over the same month last year. Year-t0-date, the market is up 27% this year, with the EV share standing at 1.4%.
With quality control issues solved in the second half of the month, the Renault Zoe was once again Master in Command, with the BMW i3 and Outlander PHEV recovering some ground over the ageing Nissan Leaf.
