According to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA), over a fifth of cars sold in the European Union were fully electric vehicles. Fully electric models accounted for 21% of the sales in the EU, making it the first time EVs constituted over a fifth of total sales in the union, despite being a slow number in terms of car sales.

Fully electric cars also made up nearly 1 million of the total cars sold in the EU for the first eight months of 2023.

In the first eight months of 2023, nearly 1 million fully-electric cars were sold in the EU, making August the thirteen consecutive month of increased sales, as the automotive industry begins to bounce back from the after-effects of the pandemic, which affected the supply chain management.

Models with internal combustions accounted for less than 50% of the total sales; plug-in hybrids comprising both an engine and chargeable battery contributed 7.4% to the total sales; completely hybrid models with large batteries charged by the engine instead of the plug made up 23.9% of the sales.

Diesel vehicles only added 12.5% to the total sales.

Volkswagen, Europe’s largest car seller, announced a 21.2% growth in sales in August, according to ACEA’s data. Stellantis witnessed a 6.4% increase in sales, whereas Renualt’s sales grew by 22.3%.

In August, battery-powered electric cars surpassed 20% for the first time, a significant growth compared to 11.6% in August 2022. The electric vehicle sales overtook diesel sales for the second time in 2023, becoming the third-most common vehicle for new car purchasers. Hybrid electric cars maintained their status as the second-most popular choice, contributing 24% to the market share. Despite being the most popular buyers’ choice, Petrol witnessed a decline in market share, going from 38.7% in August 2022 to 32.7% in August 2023.

August 2023 also saw a surge in battery-electric registrations in the EU, increasing by 118.1%. Barring Malta, which demonstrated a negative 22.6% figure regarding sales, all EU regions reported massive growth, reaching double- and triple figures—Germany’s market volume increased by an impressive 170.7%, and Belgium’s data showed a stellar growth rate of 224.5%. The overall sales of battery-electric cars boosted by a remarkable 62.7%, registering almost one million units between January and August.

In the same month, new EU hybrid-electric model registrations jumped by 29%, with Germany, France, and Spain being the three largest markets and contributing 59%, 38.7%, and 21.5% to sales, respectively. Italy, the fourth largest market, noticed a slight dip of negative 2.3%, leading to an overall 28.6% increase and selling 1.8 million units in the first eight months of the year.

In July 2023, new plug-in hybrid vehicle registrations in the EU expanded by 5.5%, reaching 58,557 units. The Netherlands (44.7%), France (40.5%), and Sweden (24.9%) showed exemplary performance. However, despite the growth, the aggregate market shares of plug-in hybrid cars declined from 8.5% to 7.4% in August.