The pandemic’s strong impact on the economy has not dented consumer interest in electrified vehicles (EVs ) it seems with July being a record-breaking month for EV registrations in Europe, a 131 percent volume increase year on year to 230,700.
This was the first time that these vehicles (hybrids and full electric ) were bought by more than 200,00 consumers in a single month.
The Renault Zoe was by far the highest-selling EV in Europe for July, with 146 per cent year-on-year growth. Renault sold 9,280 Zoes in July, followed by the Hyundai with the Kona (4,405 ), the Volkswagen e-Golf (4,094 ) and Kia’s e-Niro was in fourth.
The latest figures from JATO tell us that EVs accounted for 18 per cent of total registrations in July, far greater than their market share of 7.5 per cent in July 2019, and 5.7 per cent in July 2018.
Half of these cars were powered by a hybrid engines (HEV ), with demand soaring by 89 per cent. Across Europe, the mild hybrid versions of the Ford Puma and Fiat 500 contributed to this result. Plug- in hybrids (PHEV ) followed with 55,800 units, up by 365 per cent from July 2019, and boosted by new models like the Ford Kuga, Mercedes-Benz A Class, Volvo XC40 and BMW 3-Series.
Finally, the pure electric cars (BEV ) also showed encouraging results. Registrations jumped from 23,400 units in July 2019 to 53,200 just one year later, and the offer increased from 28 different models available to 38. New models like the Peugeot 209, Mini Electric, MG ZS, Porsche Taycan and Skoda Citigo buoyed the figures. Tesla posted a 76 per cent decline to 1,050 units following shipping delays to Europe, as a consequence of production challenges in its Fremont, California plant.
Here in Ireland, fully electric vehicle registrations currently make up a 3.59 percent share of the market here, with 2,660 EVs registered so far. This is down one per cent year to date however, (2,687 ).
Meanwhile 1,278,521 new passenger cars have been registered in Europe as of July 2020, down by only four per cent month on month from 2019.
Like electric vehicles, SUVs also showed record results. Last month (July ), they accounted for almost 42 per cent of total registrations to 530,800 units, posting the highest monthly volume since July 2019.
