In the first quarter of 2021, the share of hybrid electric vehicles accounted for 18.4% of total passenger car sales in the EU, which almost doubled their market share in a year, according to Message of the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA).
Battery electric vehicles accounted for 5.7% of all new vehicles, while plug-in hybrids accounted for 8.2% of all vehicle registrations in the EU.
Sales of traditional fossil fuel vehicles continued to decline in the European Union, although gasoline and diesel still accounted for 65.4% of the automotive market.
The largest growth in sales of electric vehicles was observed in Germany and Italy - by 149% and 145.6%, respectively. At the same time, Germany remains the largest market for electric vehicles. In the first quarter, 64.8 thousand electric cars were sold here. This is more than double the demand in France. French consumers purchased 30,500 electric vehicles in the first quarter, which is, however, 17.5% more than a year earlier.
Within the EU, France remains the second largest market for electric vehicles. However, among all European countries, it fell back to third place. In the first quarter of 2021, France was ousted by the United Kingdom, where sales of electric cars grew by 74% and reached 31.8 thousand units.
