Plug-in hybrid, hybrid and mild hybrid in demand
In the first quarter of this year, almost 2.8 million new passenger cars were registered in the European Union. More than one in ten of these have a fully electric drivetrain. This also means that almost nine in ten new cars simply have a combustion engine. This and more is evident from figures released by the trade organization European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA).
In the first three months of this year, 2,768,639 new passenger cars were registered in the European Union. That was 4.4 percent more than in the first quarter of last year. Among those almost 2.8 million new passenger cars were 322,999 electric cars. This means that 12 percent – more than one in ten – was an EV. In the first quarter of 2022, EVs accounted for a similar market share. So little has changed in that respect. It also means that 88 percent of the registered cars were not electric.
The further decline in registrations of new diesels is not entirely surprising. And big too. With 355,352 units, 10.6 percent fewer were registered than in the same period last year. Yet diesels still have a larger market share than EVs. Nearly 13 percent had a self-igniter under the hood. Cars with non-electrified petrol engines were still the most popular. More than 980,000 new cars with a conventional petrol engine have been registered in the EU in the past three months. That was one percent less than in the first quarter of last year, but traditional petrol cars still have a market share of 35 percent.
Undoubtedly, the percentage decrease in the number of new traditional petrol and diesel cars registered is also related to the increase in the number of cars that fall under the heading ‘Hybrid’ in ACEA’s figures. The trade organization does not include plug-in hybrids, but does include full-fledged hybrids and mild hybrids. According to ACEA, more than 800,000 hybrids or mild hybrids were registered in the first quarter of this year, almost 20 percent more than in the same period last year. Registrations of plug-ins – which are therefore counted separately – also increased by 7.5 percent to 204,000 units. Nearly 94,500 registered cars have a hydrogen, CNG or LPG power source.
Striking: in Germany, the number of registered new EVs decreased by 14 percent in the first quarter compared to the same quarter last year. In Italy and Sweden even by around 19 percent.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl