Sales of fully electric and hybrid plug-in vehicles in the European Union (EU) rose sharply in the third quarter of 2017. A total of 55,813 such vehicles were registered in the EU during the period. This is 55.3% more than the 35,932 units that appeared on the roads in the third quarter of 2016.
This is according to figures from the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) on the market for alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs) The entire market has grown; a total of 211,635 new AFVs were registered in the EU in the third quarter of 2017. This is 51.4% more than the 139,780 units that appeared on the road in the same period a year earlier. In the first three quarters of 2017, 629,228 AFVs were sold in the EU.
Electric car sales grow fastest
Manufacturers' Association divides the AFV market into fully electric vehicles (ECV), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV), unplugged hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) and other alternative fuel vehicles. The market for ECVs is growing fastest at 60.9%. A total of 23,841 all-electric cars were registered in the EU in Q3, up from 14,813 in Q3 2016.
Looking at the first three quarters of 2017 as a whole, a sizeable increase is also visible. A total of 70,541 ECVs were registered in the EU during this period. This is 53.1% more than in the same period in 2016, when 46,065 all-electric cars were sold.
Sales of PHEVs grow by 55.3%
The market for PHEVs also grew strongly. In the third quarter of 2017, 31,000 new PHEVs were registered in the EU, up from 20,236 in the same period a year earlier. This represents an increase of 55.3%. The growth in popularity of PHEVs accelerated in the last quarter; in the first three quarters of 2017, the number of registered PHEVs in the EU grew by 36.4% compared to the same period in 2016. A total of 79,409 such vehicles were sold in the first three months of 2017.
Looking at the combined sales of all forms of plug-in electric vehicles, the number of registered vehicles was found to have increased by 55.3% to 55,813 in the third quarter of 2017. These include battery electric vehicles (BEVs), extended-range electric vehicles (EREVs), fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) and PHEVs. A total of 152,694 of these vehicles were sold in the first three quarters of 2017, which is 43.6% more than in the same period a year earlier.
Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles
ACEA also charted sales of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs). These include mild hybrids and full hybrids. A mild hybrid is a vehicle where the combustion engine is supported by an electric motor during acceleration and energy released during braking is stored in a battery. A full hybrid is a vehicle that typically uses electric motors during acceleration. Once the vehicle reaches speed, the combustion engine takes over propulsion.
A total of 110,778 HEVs were sold in the EU in the third quarter of 2017. This is 59.7% more than the 69,351 HEVs registered in the same period in 2016. The growth in the third quarter is slightly lower than the overall growth in the first three quarters of 2017, when HEV sales increased by 60.6% compared to the same period in 2016. A total of 324,678 HEVs were registered in the first three quarters of 2017.
Alternative fuels
Finally, ACEA provides figures on vehicles running on other alternative fuels: natural gas, LPG and ethanol (E85). A total of 45,044 such vehicles were registered in the EU, which is 30.9% more than in the third quarter of 2016. A total of 151,856 vehicles were registered in the first three quarters of 2017.
Author: Wouter Hoeffnagel
Source: ACEA
Source photo: Pixabay / paulbr75
