According to EV-Volumes.com, Plug-in sales in the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland reached 195 000 units in the first half of 2018 – a 42 percent increase over the same period last year.
The numbers included all Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) and Plug-in Hybrids (PHEV) in Europe, covering passenger cars, and light commercial vehicles.
The European milestone was hit nearly one year after China hit the one million sales mark, with the United States expected to hit its milestone later this year, “driven by the appetite for Tesla’s latest model,” according to The Guardian.
The report also expects EV sales to hit 1.35 million by the end of the year. Viktor Irle, a market analyst at the group, said: “A stock of one million electric vehicles is an important milestone on the road to electrification and meeting emission targets but it is of course not enough.”
A breakdown of sales
The report by the Swedish consultancy and data group found EV sales trending upwards in the European market, particularly in the Nordic countries of Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Iceland. Norway itself added 36,500 new plug-in cars in 2018, accounting for a 37 percent share of the new sales.
But in addition to impressive sales in the Nordic countries, Germany must be singled out. With the sale of 84,000 units, this means there was a 52 percent increase in sales in the first half of the year, making Germany the strongest growth contributor, according to Green Matters.
The United Kingdom saw only moderate growth in EV sales in the first half of 2018, with only 30,040 plug-in cars and vans sold. Interestingly, all-electric car sales dropped by 6.0 percent while plug-in hybrid sales rose 50 percent. EV-Volumes suggested the UK’s lukewarm response could be due to a lack of compelling models from domestic manufacturers Ford and Vauxhall.
You might wonder what kind of plug-ins European drivers are buying? A breakdown of the figures shows that 51 percent of buyers prefer all-electric vehicles, while less than 1.0 percent of buyers chose fuel cell vehicles — a less common type of EV that converts hydrogen into electricity.
The need for more charging stations still crucial
One thing is for sure, as more EVs are sold across Europe, there will be a need for more charging stations. And EV-Volumes is using its report to advocate for better infrastructure.
“The one-millionth sale this year is a clear signal of consumer intent,” Matt Allen, CEO of EV-Volumes, told The Guardian. “Access to low-cost, well-located charging from abundant power sources is crucial for capturing this momentum.”
The European Alternative Fuels Observatory currently estimates there are 149,100 total stations across the continent.
