Electric vehicles. In 2015 registrations doubled in Europe

Data on the current number of electric cars circulating in Europe confirm a situation with wide variations. According to the European Alternative Fuel Observatory, in Europe today there are over 370,000 electric vehicles on the road, of which around 174,000 are battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and around 197,000 are plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). In simple terms, the top five European countries for the diffusion of electric vehicles are the Netherlands, Norway, France, the United Kingdom and Germany.

These numbers are still small and have little impact, especially when compared with the total number of cars on the road, which according to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) amounts to 252.7 million vehicles (2015 figure).

The trend is however growing, as seen from the registrations for 2014 and 2015: on a European scale, the number of new registrations more than doubled in 2015.  Once again, those countries at the forefront were the Netherlands, with the number of electric vehicles in circulation almost tripling, followed by the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Sweden, where it was almost doubled. There were only a few cases where a minus was recorded.

As with the other major European countries, Italy has also seen interest gradually increase in electric vehicles, despite the fact that the number of cars on the road is still fairly limited. Although the results are modest, with electric vehicles accounting for less than 1% of the overall market, the trend is also clearly growing. When looking at the data regarding new registrations for battery electric vehicles (BEVs), the Italian market is notably dominated by Japanese and French manufacturers. It is therefore clear that a change in strategy from the national car manufacturers with regard to e-mobility could create an important stimulus for the market.

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Pietro Farinati