2020 (Full Year) Europe: Car Sales by Fuel Type in the EU, UK, and EFTA

2020 (Full Year): Petrol and diesel were the most popular fuel type in Europe (EU, UK, EFTA) but battery-electric car sales doubled and plug-in hybrids tripled.

In the full-year 2020, the registration of electrically chargeable passenger vehicles in the European Union (EU), UK and EFTA countries increased by 144% to 1,364,813 cars for a market share of 11%. Although hybrid and electrically-chargeable vehicle sales in the EU exceeded a million cars each for the first time ever, petrol and diesel remained by far the most popular fuel type for new cars sold in Europe in 2020.

European Car Market Statistics 2020: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

Car Sales in Europe by Fuel Type in 2020 (Full Year)

The new car market in the EU, UK, and EFTA during 2020 was divided in the following fuel types:

Fuel Type	2020	% 19/20	% Share	2019	2018	2017
Total Market	11,961,182	-24.3	100	15,805,752	15,624,486	15,631,687
Petrol	5,749,502	-37.6	48	9,182,788	8,752,773	7,786,268
Diesel	3,106,377	-35.2	26	4,756,225	5,522,882	6,766,776
Hybrid	1,447,973	51.3	12.1	931,801	606,210	455,653
Electric:
– ECV:	1,364,813	143.8	11.4	564,225	384,052	289,072
– – BEV	745,684	107	6.2	365,372	201,284	135,775
– – PHEV	619,129	210	5.2	198,853	182,768	153,297
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).
BEV statistics include FCEV and PHEV include EREV
Hybrids include full and mild hybrids but not 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.

European New Car Market by Fuel Type in 2020 (Full Year)

New passenger vehicle registrations in Europe (EU, UK, EFTA) during full calendar year 2020 contracted by 24% to 11,961,182 cars — the smallest European new car market since 1993.

Although petrol with a market share of 48% and diesel with 26% remained by far the most popular fuel type for new cars sold in Europe in 2020, these energy types also experienced sales down by more than 35%. Hybrid car sales (excluding plug-in hybrids) increased by 51% to take a 12% market share.

Electrically-chargeable vehicle (ECV) sales in Europe in 2020 increased by 143% to take 11.4% market share compared to only 3.6% in 2019. Battery-electric vehicle (BEV) sales more than doubled to take a 6.2% market share compared to 2.3% in 2019. Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) gained the most with sales more than tripling to take a 5.2% share of the market — up from 1.3%.

For the first time ever, in 2020 both electrically chargeable and hybrid vehicle sales in the European Union exceeded a million units in a single calendar year at 1,045,831 hybrids and 1,182,792 ECVs respectively.