2019 (Full Year) Europe: Electric and Plug-In Hybrid Car Sales per EU and EFTA Country

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2019 (Full Year): The Netherlands was the largest battery-electric car market in Europe with Germany leading in electrified vehicles.

Audi e-tron - electric car sales in 2019 increased in almost all European countries

In the full-year 2019, the registration of electrically chargeable passenger vehicles in the European Union (EU) and EFTA countries increased by 46% to 564,225 cars. The sales of battery-electric cars grew by an even faster 81% to 365,372 cars. The Netherlands surpassed Norway as the market leader for battery electric vehicles while Germany overtook the United Kingdom as the largest market for plug-in hybrid vehicles in Europe.

European New Electric Car Market in 2019 (Full Year)

During 2019, the market for electrically chargeable vehicles in the European Union expanded by 53.5% to 465,026 cars. If EFTA is added, the expansion was 45.4% to 564,225 cars – largely due to electric cars remaining very popular in Norway.

The market for electrically chargeable vehicles in the EU and EFTA grew by more than 175,000 cars during 2019 to increase market share from 2% to 3.6% compared to 2018.

Strong growth in the sales of electric cars in Europe is expected in 2020. This is due both to the availability of more electric car models but even more as a result of heavy fines that the EU will impose on carmakers producing cars with high CO2 output unless balances out by low-emission vehicles. A 260% growth was forecasted for the UK in 2020.

European New Car Market by Fuel Types in 2019 (Full Year)

The new car market in the EU and EFTA during 2019 was divided in the following fuel types:

Fuel Type201920182017% Change 18/19% Market Share 2019
Total Market15,805,75215,624,48615,631,6871.2100
Petrol9,182,7888,752,7737,786,268558
Diesel4,756,2255,522,8826,766,776-13.930
Hybrid931,801606,210455,65349.25.9
Electric:
– ECV:564,225384,052289,07245.53.6
– – BEV365,372201,284135,77580.82.3
– – PHEV198,853182,768153,2977.11.3
Source: ACEA

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).
  • Hybrids include PHEV
  • Alternatively Powered Vehicles (APV) includes ECV, hybrids, natural gas, LPG and ethanol (not included in the table above).
  • Excludes some smaller markets where suitable data is not available.

Electric Car Sales per European Union and EFTA Country in 2019 (Full Year)

New passenger vehicle registrations of electrically chargeable vehicles (ECV) in European Union and EFTA countries during 2019 were as follows according to the ACEA:

Country1-12/20191-12/2018% Change
AUSTRIA11,4179,02226.5
BELGIUM17,76113,24334.1
BULGARIA2372207.7
CZECH REPUBLIC1,22998125.3
DENMARK9,4144,91691.5
ESTONIA97118-17.8
FINLAND7,8635,70837.8
FRANCE61,35645,59734.6
GERMANY108,83967,65860.9
GREECE47929960.2
HUNGARY2,9392,07042.0
IRELAND4,7901,972142.9
ITALY17,1349,74875.8
LATVIA1029013.3
LITHUANIA16214313.3
NETHERLANDS72,59629,668144.7
POLAND2,6901,37995.1
PORTUGAL12,6817,84961.6
ROMANIA1,506605148.9
SLOVAKIA36729325.3
SLOVENIA651660-1.4
SPAIN17,47611,81447.9
SWEDEN40,40628,97939.4
UNITED KINGDOM72,83459,94721.5
EUROPEAN UNION465,026302,97953.5
ICELAND2,0852,583-19.3
NORWAY79,64072,6899.6
SWITZERLAND17,4749,49784.0
EFTA99,19984,76917.0
EU + EFTA564,225387,74845.5

Battery Electric Vehicle Sales in Europe in 2019

Registrations of battery electric vehicles (BEV) in various European Union and EFTA member countries during the period January to December 2019 were as follows according to ACEA statistics:

Country1-12/20191-12/2018% Change
AUSTRIA9,2616,76436.9
BELGIUM8,8373,648142.2
BULGARIA181194-6.7
CZECH REPUBLIC7567037.5
DENMARK5,5321,745217.0
ESTONIA8085-5.9
FINLAND1,897776144.5
FRANCE42,76431,06937.6
GERMANY63,49136,21675.3
GREECE19088115.9
HUNGARY1,8331,30041.0
IRELAND3,4441,233179.3
ITALY10,6634,999113.3
LATVIA887320.5
LITHUANIA16214313.3
NETHERLANDS67,69526,479155.7
POLAND1,490620140.3
PORTUGAL6,8834,07369.0
ROMANIA1,506605148.9
SLOVAKIA165293-43.7
SLOVENIA51546710.3
SPAIN10,0445,98367.9
SWEDEN15,5967,083120.2
UNITED KINGDOM37,85015,510144.0
EUROPEAN UNION290,923150,14993.8
ICELAND91468733.0
NORWAY60,34546,14330.8
SWITZERLAND13,1905,138156.7
EFTA74,44951,96843.3
EU + EFTA365,372202,11780.8

Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle Sales in Europe in 2019

Registrations of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) in various European Union and EFTA member countries during the full-year 2019 were as follows according to ACEA statistics:

Country1-12/20191-12/2018% Change
AUSTRIA2,1562,258-4.5
BELGIUM8,9249,595-7.0
BULGARIA5626115.4
CZECH REPUBLIC47327870.1
DENMARK3,8823,17122.4
ESTONIA1733-48.5
FINLAND5,9664,93221.0
FRANCE18,59214,52828.0
GERMANY45,34831,44244.2
GREECE28921137.0
HUNGARY1,10677043.6
IRELAND1,34673982.1
ITALY6,4714,74936.3
LATVIA1417-17.6
LITHUANIA2––
NETHERLANDS4,9013,18953.7
POLAND1,20075958.1
PORTUGAL5,7983,77653.5
ROMANIA––
SLOVAKIA2020#DIV/0!
SLOVENIA136193-29.5
SPAIN7,4325,83127.5
SWEDEN24,81021,89613.3
UNITED KINGDOM34,98444,437-21.3
EUROPEAN UNION174,103152,83013.9
ICELAND1,1711,896-38.2
NORWAY19,29526,546-27.3
SWITZERLAND4,2844,359-1.7
EFTA24,75032,801-24.5
EU + EFTA198,853185,6317.1

Electric Car Sales in Europe During 2019

During 2019, Germany surpassed Norway as the largest European market for electrically chargeable vehicles. The United Kingdom was again the third-largest market for electrified cars in Europe but the Netherlands overtook France with a sharp increase in electric car sales.

The Netherlands somewhat surprisingly became the largest market in Europe for battery-electric vehicles with sales increasing by 155% to take 15% of the Dutch new car market. Germany was the second-largest European market for electric cars in 2019 followed by Norway that used to be the unchallenged leader for years. France slipped one position to fourth – the rank the Netherlands had in 2018. Britain and Sweden were in the same positions as a year ago while Switzerland moved ahead of Italy and Spain. Austria slipped from 7th to 10th. Denmark was the fastest-growing electric car market in Europe in 2019.

Germany replaced Britain as the largest market for plug-in hybrid cars in Europe in 2019. Sales of plug-in hybrids in the EU and EFTA in 2019 increased by a relatively modest 7% hinting that the expense of having two engines in a car is weighing heavily on the market. The image of PHEV took a bit of a bashing after reports in the UK that many were fleet vehicles that qualified for subsidies despite the charging cables never being used by drivers.

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

Electric Car Sales per EU and EFTA Country:

About the author:

Henk Bekker

Henk Bekker is a freelance writer with over 20 years of experience in online writing. His best-selling cars website has been reporting car sales statistics since 2008 with classic car auction prices focusing on the most expensive automobiles sold at public auctions in the past decade. He also owns the travel websites European-Traveler.com and Lake Geneva Switzerland. Henk holds an MBA from Edinburgh Business School and an MSc in Finance from the University of London.