2017 (Full Year) Europe: Electric and Hybrid Car Sales per EU and EFTA Country

In 2017, Norway remained the largest market for electric cars in Europe while Germany finally moved ahead of Britain and France. Electric car sales increased by 39% in the EU.

In full year 2017, Norway was again the leading market for electrically chargeable vehicles while Britain was the largest market for hybrid cars. The total market for electrically chargeable vehicles in the European Union (EU) and EFTA in 2017 expanded by 38.7% to 287,270 cars or a share of 1.4% of the total European new car market. The total was almost equally spread between battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids. Hybrid car sales increased by over 50% to nearly half a million vehicles.

The European Electric Car Market in 2017 (Full Year)

New electrically chargeable vehicle (ECV) registrations in the European Union (EU) and EFTA countries increased by 38.7% to 287,270 cars. During the fourth quarter 2017, the increase was slightly weaker at 37% to just over 86,000 electric cars.

Despite the strong growth in electric car sales in Europe in 2017, electrically chargeable vehicles still have a market share of only 1.4%, which is around one in 60 new cars.

Note: Terminology used in these ACEA statistics: Electrically chargeable vehicle (ECV) = battery electric vehicles (BEV) + extended-range electric vehicles (EREV) + fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) + plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV).

Electric Car Sales Per European Union and EFTA Country in 2017 (Q1-Q4)

Registrations of electrically chargeable vehicles (ECV) in European Union and EFTA member countries during Q4 (October to December) and full year 2017 were as follows according to ACEA statistics:

	Q4/2017	Q4/2016	% Change	2017	2016	% Change
AUSTRIA	1,864	1,270	46.8	7,154	5,068	41.2
BELGIUM	3,752	2,301	63.1	14,299	8,984	59.2
BULGARIA	71	9	688.9	106	13	715.4
CZECH REPUBLIC	73	70	4.3	307	200	53.5
DENMARK	731	850	-14.0	1,342	1,920	-30.1
ESTONIA	4	6	-33.3	43	35	22.9
FINLAND	969	413	134.6	3,055	1,430	113.6
FRANCE	10,254	7,525	36.3	36,835	29,194	26.2
GERMANY	17,694	8,087	118.8	54,617	25,214	116.6
GREECE	69	6	1050.0	199	43	362.8
HUNGARY	461	109	322.9	1,192	343	247.5
IRELAND	72	36	100.0	948	690	37.4
ITALY	1,315	770	70.8	4,827	2,819	71.2
LATVIA	11	8	37.5	56	40	40.0
LITHUANIA	15	11	36.4	52	64	-18.8
NETHERLANDS	3,517	14,723	-76.1	11,079	22,939	-51.7
POLAND	369	150	146.0	1,068	569	87.7
PORTUGAL	1,462	548	166.8	4,082	1,845	121.2
ROMANIA	91	51	78.4	188	74	154.1
SLOVAKIA	80	22	263.6	209	59	254.2
SLOVENIA	155	61	154.1	456	198	130.3
SPAIN	2,871	1,154	148.8	7,476	3,654	104.6
SWEDEN	6,684	3,887	72.0	19,678	13,260	48.4
UNITED KINGDOM	11,863	7,835	51.4	47,298	37,102	27.5
EUROPEAN UNION	64,447	49,902	29.1	216,566	155,757	39.0
EU15	63,117	49,405	27.8	212,889	154,162	38.1
EU (New Members)	1,330	497	167.6	3,677	1,595	130.5
NORWAY	19,217	11,522	66.8	62,313	44,908	38.8
SWITZERLAND	2,824	1,715	64.7	8,391	6,403	31.0
EFTA	22,041	13,237	66.5	70,704	51,311	37.8
EU + EFTA	86,488	63,139	37.0	287,270	207,068	38.7
EU15 + EFTA	85,158	62,642	35.9	283,593	205,473	38.0

Battery Electric Vehicle Sales in Europe in 2017 (Full Year)

Registrations of battery electric vehicles (BEV) in various European Union and EFTA member countries during the full year and Q4 2017 were as follows according to ACEA statistics:

	Q4/2017	Q4/2016	% Change	2017	2016	% Change
AUSTRIA	1,352	907	49.1	5,433	3,826	42.0
BELGIUM	666	508	31.1	2,709	2,054	31.9
BULGARIA	68	5	1260.0	68	5	1260.0
CZECH REPUBLIC	73	70	4.3	307	200	53.5
DENMARK	261	631	-58.6	698	1,312	-46.8
ESTONIA	3	6	-50.0	26	35	-25.7
FINLAND	111	59	88.1	502	223	125.1
FRANCE	6,147	5,661	8.6	24,910	21,752	14.5
GERMANY	8,623	3,732	131.1	25,056	11,410	119.6
GREECE	17	1	1600.0	38	12	216.7
HUNGARY	310	51	507.8	749	172	335.5
IRELAND	41	21	95.2	622	392	58.7
ITALY	535	441	21.3	1,967	1,377	42.8
LATVIA	7	5	40.0	39	22	77.3
LITHUANIA	15	11	36.4	52	64	-18.8
NETHERLANDS	3,244	1,308	148.0	9,897	4,268	131.9
POLAND	176	39	351.3	439	108	306.5
PORTUGAL	545	218	150.0	1,640	756	116.9
ROMANIA	91	51	78.4	188	74	154.1
SLOVAKIA	80	22	263.6	209	59	254.2
SLOVENIA	86	48	79.2	288	144	100.0
SPAIN	1,566	844	85.5	3,920	2,005	95.5
SWEDEN	908	904	0.4	4,217	2,945	43.2
UNITED KINGDOM	2,470	2,157	14.5	13,597	10,264	32.5
EUROPEAN UNION	27,395	17,700	54.8	97,571	63,479	53.7
EU15	26,486	17,392	52.3	95,206	62,596	52.1
EU (New Members)	909	308	195.1	2,365	883	167.8
NORWAY	9,788	6,737	45.3	33,025	24,222	36.3
SWITZERLAND	1,629	913	78.4	4,773	3,295	44.9
EFTA	11,417	7,650	49.2	37,798	27,517	37.4
EU + EFTA	38,812	25,350	53.1	135,369	90,996	48.8
EU15 + EFTA	37,903	25,042	51.4	133,004	90,113	47.6

Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle Sales in Europe in 2017 (Q1-Q4)

Registrations of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) in various European Union and EFTA member countries during the full year and Q4 2017 were as follows according to ACEA statistics:

	Q4/2017	Q4/2016	% Change	2017	2016	% Change
AUSTRIA	512	358	43.0	1,721	1,237	39.1
BELGIUM	3,008	1,793	67.8	11,287	6,671	69.2
BULGARIA	3	4	-25.0	38	8	375.0
CZECH REPUBLIC	–	–	#DIV/0!	–	–	#DIV/0!
DENMARK	454	206	120.4	614	572	7.3
ESTONIA	1	0	#DIV/0!	17	0	#DIV/0!
FINLAND	852	354	140.7	2,533	1,207	109.9
FRANCE	4,085	1,855	120.2	11,868	7,429	59.8
GERMANY	9,021	4,349	107.4	29,439	13,751	114.1
GREECE	52	5	940.0	161	31	419.4
HUNGARY	151	58	160.3	443	171	159.1
IRELAND	31	15	106.7	326	298	9.4
ITALY	733	284	158.1	2,646	1,307	102.4
LATVIA	4	3	33.3	17	18	-5.6
LITHUANIA	–	–	–	–	–	–
NETHERLANDS	271	13,396	-98.0	1,158	18,628	-93.8
POLAND	188	86	118.6	585	404	44.8
PORTUGAL	905	319	183.7	2,416	1,048	130.5
ROMANIA	–	–	–	–	–	–
SLOVAKIA	–	–	–	–	–	–
SLOVENIA	68	13	423.1	165	46	258.7
SPAIN	1,257	292	330.5	3,370	1,511	123.0
SWEDEN	5,768	2,974	93.9	15,447	10,296	50.0
UNITED KINGDOM	8,850	5,133	72.4	31,154	24,899	25.1
EUROPEAN UNION	36,214	31,497	15.0	115,405	89,532	28.9
EU15	35,799	31,333	14.3	114,140	88,885	28.4
EU (New Members)	415	164	153.0	1,265	647	95.5
NORWAY	8,078	3,768	114.4	25,165	15,517	62.2
SWITZERLAND	1,141	741	54.0	3,404	2,829	20.3
EFTA	9,219	4,509	104.5	28,569	18,346	55.7
EU + EFTA	45,433	36,006	26.2	143,974	107,878	33.5
EU15 + EFTA	45,018	35,842	25.6	142,709	107,231	33.1

Electric Vehicle Sales in Europe in 2017 (Full Year)

The market for electrically chargeable vehicles (ECVs) in the European Union and EFTA countries expanded by 39% in 2017. The growth in battery electric vehicles (BEV) sales was an even higher 48.8% to easily surpass 100,000 electric cars sold in Europe for the first time ever in a single year. Around a third more plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) were sold in Europe in 2017.

In 2017, as in recent years, Norway was by far the largest single-country market for electric vehicles in Europe. In Norway, electric cars had 40% of the total new vehicle market. Norway remained the largest car market for BEVs and the third largest market for PHEVs.

New electric vehicle registrations in Germany more than doubled in 2017 to overtake both the UK and France to make the German electric car market the second largest in Europe. Both battery and plug-in hybrid electric vehicle sales in Germany more than doubled in 2017 to make Germany the second largest market in both sectors.

Both Britain and France, with electric vehicle sales increases of just over a quarter, slipped one rank position down due to the strong increase in electric car sales in Germany in 2017. The UK was the largest single-country market for plug-in hybrids in Europe in 2017 but Germany took the lead in the final quarter of the year.

In 2017, Sweden and Belgium overtook the Netherlands in electric vehicle sales largely due to the exceptionally strong Q3/2016 sales of plug-in hybrids in the Netherlands ahead of tax changes. Denmark was the only other significant electric car market with weaker sales in 2017 with the change also due to a change in taxes.

Electric car sales in Spain doubled in 2017 to overtake Austria.

As before, electric cars play only a minor role in the newer EU member states.

Sales of Hybrid Electric Vehicles in Europe in 2017 (Q1 – Q4)

Registrations of new hybrid electric vehicles (full and mild hybrids) were as follows in various European Union and EFTA countries during the full year and final quarter of 2017 according to the ACEA:

	Q4/2017	Q4/2016	% Change	2017	2016	% Change
AUSTRIA	1,673	1,062	57.5	6,572	3,474	89.2
BELGIUM	2,462	2,348	4.9	12,571	9,501	32.3
BULGARIA	412	258	59.7	1,195	580	106.0
CZECH REPUBLIC	787	461	70.7	2,826	1,541	83.4
DENMARK	1,513	1,377	9.9	7,101	6,781	4.7
ESTONIA	238	194	22.7	1,188	765	55.3
FINLAND	1,703	1,117	52.5	8,514	4,678	82.0
FRANCE	20,098	15,445	30.1	69,680	50,956	36.7
GERMANY	15,150	10,543	43.7	55,236	34,245	61.3
GREECE	737	394	87.1	2,348	1,545	52.0
HUNGARY	994	530	87.5	3,539	1,674	111.4
IRELAND	91	13	600.0	4,435	2,570	72.6
ITALY	17,415	10,171	71.2	63,398	37,240	70.2
LATVIA	124	115	7.8	344	286	20.3
LITHUANIA	214	107	100.0	715	401	78.3
NETHERLANDS	4,254	4,187	1.6	17,667	10,972	61.0
POLAND	4,852	2,909	66.8	16,896	10,050	68.1
PORTUGAL	1,376	981	40.3	4,692	3,204	46.4
ROMANIA	570	405	40.7	2,039	1,089	87.2
SLOVAKIA	558	149	274.5	1,936	363	433.3
SLOVENIA	286	87	228.7	1,005	369	172.4
SPAIN	15,002	9,073	65.3	55,522	30,897	79.7
SWEDEN	5,600	3,690	51.8	19,562	13,759	42.2
UNITED KINGDOM	13,833	11,113	24.5	72,523	51,789	40.0
EUROPEAN UNION	109,942	76,729	43.3	431,504	278,729	54.8
EU15	100,907	71,514	41.1	399,821	261,611	52.8
EU (New Members)	9,035	5,215	73.3	31,683	17,118	85.1
NORWAY	4,798	4,216	13.8	20,500	17,259	18.8
SWITZERLAND	2,213	2,099	5.4	8,414	7,673	9.7
EFTA	7,011	6,315	11.0	28,914	24,932	16.0
EU + EFTA	116,953	83,044	40.8	460,418	303,661	51.6
EU15 + EFTA	107,918	77,829	38.7	428,735	286,543	49.6

The market for hybrid electric vehicles, excluding plug-in hybrids, in the EU and EFTA grew by 52% in 2017 to 460,418 vehicles. As with plug-in hybrids, the UK was the leading market in Europe in 2017. France and Italy were again the second and third largest markets.

Spain surpassed Germany, where hybrids remained relatively unimportant in overall numbers despite a strong 60% increase in sales. Norway was the sixth largest market in Europe for hybrid cars in 2017 with Norway the only major market where plug-in hybrid sales volumes were higher than regular hybrids.

The only other European Union countries with hybrid car sales exceeding 10,000 vehicles in 2017 were Sweden, Netherlands, Poland and Belgium.

Hybrid car sales increased in all EU and EFTA countries in 2017. The fastest growth was in Slovakia where sales more than quadrupled but from a low base (and small numbers).

For more on the European new car market in 2017 see also:

Electric Car Sales in the European Union (EU) and EFTA Countries

Electric Car Sales per EU and EFTA Country:

2022: Q1
2021 (Full Year): By Country, Top Electric Brands and Models
2021: Q1, Half Year, Q3
2020 (Full Year): Market by Fuel Type, Sales by Country
2020: Q3, (Half Year), (Q1)
2019: (Full Year), (Q1)
2018: (Full Year), (Q3), (Half Year), (Q1)
2017: (Full Year)