Fleet electrification continues to gather momentum in the European Union, with the market share of all-electric (BEVs) almost doubling in Q1 2022 and only declining in Italy.  

The market share for BEVs rose from 5.7% in Q1 2021 to 10%, after sales volumes increased by 53.4% year-on-year to 224,145 units in the bloc. Romania saw the strongest growth in BEV sales at 408% and 2,108 new registrations.

Spanish BEV sales surged 110.3%, French 42.7% and German 29.3%. Italian sales of all-electric vehicles, however, were the only ones in the EU to decline (14.9%), the latest ACEA data shows.

Sales of hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) rose 5.3% in the bloc to 563,030 units, while registration of the more sustainable plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) dropped 5.3% to 199,107 units. Despite this slip in sales volumes, the PHEV market share in the EU still rose from 8.2% to 8.9% in Q1 2022. That’s because sales of diesel and petrol declined in the Jan-March period, continuing to lose market share, Kallanish notes.

The overall European BEV market -- which includes EU countries, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and the UK -- rose by 60.8% with 325,285 new registrations. Germany led the top-five largest markets in this group with 83,774 BEVs sold in the period, while Sweden recorded the biggest volume growth at 285.7%.

Source: ACEA

Registrations of diesel cars dropped 34.7% and petrol sales shrunk 23.1% in Europe in Q1 2022, reflecting the progress in fleet electrification and the ongoing challenges in the supply chain, particularly the shortage of semiconductors and other components.