In Europe, sales of electric cars doubled in 2020; Brussels, Rome and Paris ban polluting vehicles

Paris –

Electric vehicle sales doubled and hybrid car sales tripled in 2020 in Europe, exceeding one million vehicles sold, driven by national measures to turn the page on the pandemic and limit climate change.

A total of 538,772 electric cars were sold last year, mainly in Germany, France and the Netherlands, as well as 507,059 plug-in hybrid models, according to figures revealed on Thursday by the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA).

Despite the health crisis reducing sales in the European market by a quarter, hybrid and electric vehicles surpassed diesel models in Europe for the first time in the fourth quarter.

“Following the unprecedented effect of covid-19 on vehicle sales, the measures adopted by the government to stimulate demand were aimed above all at alternative energy vehicles,” underlines the ACEA.

Germany, Italy and France recorded an explosion in electric car sales, which also ate some of the market share of gasoline models.https://b31f6ed63691f999c208634f3d9cb873.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-37/html/container.html

In the fourth quarter, sales of the latter fell by 33.7%, to 1.2 million units (40.6% market share) and diesel sales fell by 23%, to 731,000 vehicles (24.5% ).

Electric cars grew by 216.9% in that period, to 248,000 units; plug-in hybrids 331%, to 227,000 units; non-plug-in hybrids 104.7%, to 435,000; and other energies (autogas, ethanol, natural gas), especially sold in Italy, 19.6%, to 70,000.

In 2020 as a whole, gasoline models accounted for 47% of utility car sales, followed by diesel (28%), hybrids (11.9%), electric and plug-in hybrids (10.5%) and other energies (2.1%).

Subsidies

Sales in Europe took off thanks to efforts on both supply and demand.

Governments provided billions of euros in subsidies for the purchase of greener vehicles. Germany, for example, provided subsidies of up to 9,000 euros and France up to 12,000 euros.

Many motorists also had to buy new cars to be able to continue entering the centers of large metropolises, since cities such as Brussels, Rome or Paris prohibited access to their centers to the most polluting vehicles or planned to do so.

Manufacturers, for their part, launched new models of hybrid and electric vehicles, especially so as not to deviate from European standards. They had to be below 95 grams of CO2/km or face heavy fines.

The German manufacturer Volkswagen will undoubtedly be one of the big winners in the growing electric market. Its ID3 model, launched in September, is already the second best-selling vehicle in Europe, according to the specialized firm Jato Dynamics.

And in 2021 it could surpass Renault's Zoé and Tesla Model 3, which dominated the European electric car market in 2020.

Prices down

“Covid accelerated things,” Eric Esperance, from the specialized firm Roland Berger, told AFP.

According to this expert,Hybrid cars will be “a temporary solution” until 2030, especially for users who need to travel long distances.

Until then, to gain more customers, electric cars will have to lower their prices and more charging points will have to be created.

Several brands plan to develop less expensive models, below 25,000 euros.High-end manufacturers are also expanding their offer of 100% electric cars, such as Audi with its e-Tron range.

“It's just the beginning,” predicts the Xerfi firm.