Growing faster than the market
A remarkable side dish to the presentation of the European sales figures for February: for the first time in a long time, sales of PHEVs grew faster than those of fully electric cars.
When it comes to unpredictability, the plug-in hybrid can compete well with the EV. There is also some uncertainty with electric cars, especially about the speed at which the adaptation is implemented. However, the plug-in hybrid seemed to have been abandoned for a long time, mainly due to great uncertainty about regulations and the complexity of the powertrain, with all the development costs that entails.
However, the plug-in hybrid is back again if we can believe the latest sales figures from ACEA. The total number of plug-in hybrids sold increased by 11.6 percent, while the number of EVs sold increased by only 9 percent in the same period. This means that the PHEV surpasses the EV in this area for the first time, although considerably more EVs than plug-in hybrids are still sold in Europe. The European market share for EVs was 12 percent in February 2024, and that of PHEVs was 7.3 percent.
The shift is largely taking place in Germany, where no less than 15.4 percent fewer EVs were sold than last year due to the disappearance of EV subsidies. For comparison: EV sales in our country were up almost 21 percent, while no less than 67 percent more electric cars were sold in Belgium. This must be a result of the new EV subsidy in Flanders, which caused mainly private individuals to switch to the EV. However, plug-ins were also on the rise in Belgium (+21.8 percent), as well as in France (+11.8). With a growth of 11.6 percent, the total market share of PHEVs also increased faster than the entire European car market, which recorded a healthy growth of 10.1 percent in February.
The future of the PHEV does not look good for the Netherlands either, because changing tax rules threaten to make the plug-in hybrid very expensive here from next year.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl