2018 (January to June) Europe: Electric and Hybrid Car Sales per EU and EFTA Country

During the first half of 2018, Norway was the largest market for electric cars in Europe followed by Germany and the UK.

During the first semester of 2018, Norway remained the leading electric car market in Europe. Germany is fast catching up and overtook Britain as the second largest market for electrically chargeable vehicles. Norway remained the clear leader for battery electric vehicles while Germany moved ahead of France. Britain remained the leader in plug-in hybrids while Germany overtook Norway as the second largest plug-in hybrid car market in Europe. France was the largest market for hybrid vehicles in Europe during the first half of 2018 followed by Germany and the UK.

European New Electric Car Market in 2018 (First Semester)

During the first half of 2018, new electrically chargeable passenger vehicle registrations in the EU and EFTA grew by 42.3% to 143,017 cars – around 45,000 more electric cars than were registered during the first semester of 2017. The growth in battery electric vehicles was slightly lower at 39% with 42% growth during the second quarter of 2018.

The new car market was divided in the following fuel types:

Fuel Type	2018 (HY)	2017 (HY)	% Change	% Market Share
Total Market	8,695,785	8,461,963	2.8
Petrol	4,828,576	4,129,902	16.9	56.7
Diesel	3,177,998	3,801,620	-16.4	36.3
Alternatively Powered:	621,513	463,804	34	6.9
– ECV:	183,285	128,771	42.3	1.7
– – BEV	88,286	63,667	38.7
– – PHEV	94,999	65,104	45.9
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).
Alternative fuel include all electric vehicles but also natural gas vehicles (NGV), LPG-fueled vehicles and ethanol (E85) vehicles.
Excludes some smaller markets where suitable data is not available.

Electric Car Sales per European Union and EFTA Country in 2018 (First Half)

New passenger vehicle registrations of electrically chargeable vehicles (ECV) in European Union and EFTA countries during the second quarter (Q2) 2018 and first half (HY) 2018 were as follows according to the ACEA:

	Q2/2018	Q2/2017	% Change	HY 2018	HY2017	% Change
AUSTRIA	2,084	1,880	10.9	4,336	3,386	28.1
BELGIUM	3,690	4,201	-12.2	7,671	7,342	4.5
BULGARIA	24	11	118.2	79	13	507.7
CZECH REPUBLIC	268	80	235.0	483	192	151.6
DENMARK	1,142	151	656.3	2,176	247	781.0
ESTONIA	28	12	133.3	46	29	58.6
FINLAND	1,744	680	156.5	3,228	1,285	151.2
FRANCE	10,605	9,117	16.3	21,513	18,464	16.5
GERMANY	16,406	12,137	35.2	33,980	22,465	51.3
GREECE	102	45	126.7	169	82	106.1
HUNGARY	538	277	94.2	1,019	461	121.0
IRELAND	389	100	289.0	962	535	79.8
ITALY	2,512	1,261	99.2	4,382	2,322	88.7
LATVIA	33	10	230.0	54	23	134.8
LITHUANIA	24	11	118.2	65	22	195.5
NETHERLANDS	5,184	2,376	118.2	10,607	4,848	118.8
POLAND	330	215	53.5	672	374	79.7
PORTUGAL	2,152	906	137.5	3,671	1,664	120.6
ROMANIA	102	12	750.0	297	23	1,191.3
SLOVAKIA	169	77	119.5	224	110	103.6
SLOVENIA	190	112	69.6	360	186	93.5
SPAIN	2,817	1,480	90.3	5,016	2,488	101.6
SWEDEN	6,405	4,296	49.1	12,615	8,106	55.6
UNITED KINGDOM	15,230	10,755	41.6	29,392	23,419	25.5
EUROPEAN UNION	72,168	50,202	43.8	143,017	98,086	45.8
EU15	70,462	49,385	42.7	139,718	96,653	44.6
EU (New Members)	1,706	817	108.8	3,299	1,433	130.2
NORWAY	19,607	13,713	43.0	35,789	27,202	31.6
SWITZERLAND	2,230	1,828	22.0	4,479	3,483	28.6
EFTA	21,837	15,541	40.5	40,268	30,685	31.2
EU + EFTA	94,005	65,743	43.0	183,285	128,771	42.3
EU15 + EFTA	92,299	64,926	42.2	179,986	127,338	41.3
Source: ACEA

Battery Electric Vehicle Sales in Europe in 2018 (Half Year)

Registrations of battery electric vehicles (BEV) in various European Union and EFTA member countries during the period January to June 2018 were as follows according to ACEA statistics:

	Q2/2018	Q2/2017	% Change	HY 2018	HY2017	% Change
AUSTRIA	1,489	1,453	2.5	3,088	2,679	15.3
BELGIUM	791	695	13.8	1,705	1,483	15.0
BULGARIA	16	0	#DIV/0!	64	0	#DIV/0!
CZECH REPUBLIC	185	80	131.3	318	192	65.6
DENMARK	339	98	245.9	524	146	258.9
ESTONIA	22	6	266.7	34	19	78.9
FINLAND	177	143	23.8	352	272	29.4
FRANCE	7,082	6,159	15.0	14,404	13,563	6.2
GERMANY	8,170	5,135	59.1	17,297	10,199	69.6
GREECE	26	8	225.0	43	12	258.3
HUNGARY	298	169	76.3	609	288	111.5
IRELAND	247	76	225.0	529	374	41.4
ITALY	1,314	473	177.8	2,255	1,002	125.0
LATVIA	28	6	366.7	39	11	254.5
LITHUANIA	24	11	118.2	65	22	195.5
NETHERLANDS	4,634	2,099	120.8	9,501	4,233	124.5
POLAND	130	59	120.3	279	125	123.2
PORTUGAL	1,142	360	217.2	1,868	729	156.2
ROMANIA	102	12	750.0	297	23	1,191.3
SLOVAKIA	169	77	119.5	224	110	103.6
SLOVENIA	143	73	95.9	246	131	87.8
SPAIN	1,105	678	63.0	2,258	1,266	78.4
SWEDEN	994	1,195	-16.8	2,244	2,243	0.04
UNITED KINGDOM	3,575	3,062	16.8	7,470	7,716	-3.2
EUROPEAN UNION	32,202	22,127	45.5	65,713	46,838	40.3
EU15	31,085	21,634	43.7	63,538	45,917	38.4
EU (New Members)	1,117	493	126.6	2,175	921	136.2
NORWAY	10,451	7,812	33.8	20,145	14,805	36.1
SWITZERLAND	1,103	971	13.6	2,428	2,024	20.0
EFTA	11,554	8,783	31.5	22,573	16,829	34.1
EU + EFTA	43,756	30,910	41.6	88,286	63,667	38.7
EU15 + EFTA	42,639	30,417	40.2	86,111	62,746	37.2
Source: ACEA

Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle Sales in Europe in 2018 (Half Year)

Registrations of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) in various European Union and EFTA member countries during the second quarter (Q2) 2018 and first half (HY) 2018 were as follows according to ACEA statistics:

	Q2/2018	Q2/2017	% Change	HY 2018	HY2017	% Change
AUSTRIA	595	427	39.3	1,248	707	76.5
BELGIUM	2,899	3,506	-17.3	5,966	5,859	1.8
BULGARIA	8	11	-27.3	15	13	15.4
CZECH REPUBLIC2	83	–	#DIV/0!	165	–	#DIV/0!
DENMARK	803	53	1,415.1	1,652	101	1,535.6
ESTONIA	6	6	0.0	12	10	20.0
FINLAND	1,567	537	191.8	2,876	1,013	183.9
FRANCE	3,523	2,958	19.1	7,109	4,901	45.1
GERMANY	8,236	7,002	17.6	16,683	12,266	36.0
GREECE	76	37	105.4	126	70	80.0
HUNGARY	240	108	122.2	410	173	137.0
IRELAND	142	24	491.7	433	161	168.9
ITALY	1,198	788	52.0	2,127	1,320	61.1
LATVIA	5	4	25.0	15	12	25.0
LITHUANIA3	–	–		–	–
NETHERLANDS	550	277	98.6	1,106	615	79.8
POLAND	200	156	28.2	393	249	57.8
PORTUGAL	1,010	546	85.0	1,803	935	92.8
ROMANIA3	–	–		–	–
SLOVAKIA3	–	–		–	–
SLOVENIA	47	39	20.5	114	55	107.3
SPAIN	1,712	802	113.5	2,758	1,222	125.7
SWEDEN	5,411	3,101	74.5	10,371	5,863	76.9
UNITED KINGDOM	11,655	7,693	51.5	21,922	15,703	39.6
EUROPEAN UNION	39,966	28,075	42.4	77,304	51,248	50.8
EU15	39,377	27,751	41.9	76,180	50,736	50.1
EU (New Members)	589	324	81.8	1,124	512	119.5
NORWAY	9,156	5,901	55.2	15,644	12,397	26.2
SWITZERLAND	1,127	857	31.5	2,051	1,459	40.6
EFTA	10,283	6,758	52.2	17,695	13,856	27.7
EU + EFTA	50,249	34,833	44.3	94,999	65,104	45.9
EU15 + EFTA	49,660	34,509	43.9	93,875	64,592	45.3
Source: ACEA

Electric Car Sales in Europe During 2018 (Half Year)

During the first half of 2018, Norway remained the largest market for electric cars while Germany moved ahead of the United Kingdom.

Norway remained the market leader in Europe for battery electric cars while Germany moved ahead of France with a 70% increase in the sale of electric cars. The UK was the only European country with lower battery electric vehicle sales during the first half of 2018 while sales in the Netherlands and Italy more than doubled.

The Swedish electric car market was negative during the second quarter of 2018 in anticipation of a tax regime change in July 2018. As a result, sales of non-electric cars that will be taxed heavier in future increased dramatically in the months leading up to the tax regime change. A very weak third quarter is expected.

The UK remained the largest market in Europe for plug-in hybrids while Germany finally surpassed Norway to take second place. The number of plug-in hybrids sold in Denmark increased 15 fold, although the total number remains relatively low.

Hybrid Electric Vehicles Sales in Europe in 2018 (First Half)

Registrations of new hybrid electric vehicles (full and mild hybrids) were as follows in various European Union and EFTA countries during the second quarter and the first half of 2018 according to the ACEA:

	Q2/2018	Q2/2017	% Change	HY 2018	HY2017	% Change
AUSTRIA	1,998	1,635	22.2	3,682	3,309	11.3
BELGIUM	4,120	3,064	34.5	8,613	7,310	17.8
BULGARIA	372	349	6.6	708	588	20.4
CZECH REPUBLIC	928	723	28.4	1,648	1,343	22.7
DENMARK	2,237	1,953	14.5	4,554	3,950	15.3
ESTONIA	444	347	28.0	774	637	21.5
FINLAND	3,376	2,237	50.9	6,368	4,435	43.6
FRANCE	23,601	15,111	56.2	45,406	34,460	31.8
GERMANY	24,387	13,282	83.6	44,221	25,254	75.1
GREECE	856	509	68.2	1,705	998	70.8
HUNGARY	1,442	1,006	43.3	2,564	1,717	49.3
IRELAND	817	511	59.9	4,709	2,874	63.8
ITALY	21,782	17,089	27.5	42,076	32,454	29.6
LATVIA	83	47	76.6	167	92	81.5
LITHUANIA	681	147	363.3	1,129	282	300.4
NETHERLANDS	6,205	4,250	46.0	11,702	8,901	31.5
POLAND	5,306	3,784	40.2	10,805	8,516	26.9
PORTUGAL	2,023	1,155	75.2	3,687	2,168	70.1
ROMANIA	768	424	81.1	1,533	817	87.6
SLOVAKIA	654	532	22.9	1,203	859	40.0
SLOVENIA	340	259	31.3	745	456	63.4
SPAIN	21,030	14,223	47.9	37,672	26,912	40.0
SWEDEN	7,461	4,507	65.5	12,458	9,128	36.5
UNITED KINGDOM	20,924	14,643	42.9	43,455	35,239	23.3
EUROPEAN UNION	151,835	101,787	49.2	291,584	212,699	37.1
EU15	140,817	94,169	49.5	270,308	197,392	36.9
EU (New Members)	11,018	7,618	44.6	21,276	15,307	39.0
NORWAY	5,165	5,180	-0.3	8,778	10,606	-17.2
SWITZERLAND	2,775	2,303	20.5	4,847	4,067	19.2
EFTA	7,940	7,483	6.1	13,625	14,673	-7.1
EU + EFTA	159,775	109,270	46.2	305,209	227,372	34.2
EU15 + EFTA	148,757	101,652	46.3	283,933	212,065	33.9
Source: ACEA

France was the biggest market for hybrid vehicles in Europe during the first half of 2018. It was closely followed by Germany, which experienced a 75% growth in hybrid car sales during the first semester of 2018 with sales increasing by 84% during the second quarter of the year.

Despite sales of hybrids increasing by nearly a quarter, the British market slipped from first during the first half of 2018 to only the third largest European market for hybrid cars in 2018. Norway was the only European market with weaker hybrid sales in 2018.

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)