Gasoline, hybrid and then electric. In this order, these are the cars that Europeans buy the most. And while it is true that the first two technologies account for almost 63% of the 6.58 million passenger cars and 4x4s that were registered between January and June of this year in the Old Continent, The third position reached by the 100% battery-powered (BEV) models stands out despite the known pitfalls: price, autonomy and, especially in Southern Europe, a charging network that develops slowly.
These latest automobiles are already one in seven registrations (its cumulative share of 14.2%), a piece of information that might seem scarce but, when we look at the large numbers, they represent close to 940,000 units. Or what is the same, the volume total registrations that -according to the big associations of the sector- this year in Spain adding all available technologies.
In addition, it means being above the data for passenger cars and 4x4s with a diesel engine, a category that continues its inexorable fall, accentuated since the ‘dieselgate’ scandal broke out in September 2015. Then they were still the most demanded cars, with a share of the pie close to 50% (higher even in Spain) according to the consultancy Jato Dynamics, but today he has to settle for 12.6% according to data from the European association of manufacturers Acea when considering the region in its broadest sense: European Union, the EFTA countries and the United Kingdom.
It is true that the Figures are not as compelling when taking EU sales records alone. because then you have to subtract the numbers for Norway from the equation, the paradise of battery-powered cars with a market share of more than 80% (55,274 cars); and stop counting the registrations of the United Kingdom, which is the second market for electric cars on the continent, with 152,965 units in the first half that are only surpassed by the 220,244 vehicles with this type of propulsion that were dispatched in Germany. In third place, France appears (137,919 cars) with the Netherlands already at a considerable distance and 58,272 registrations.
In this way, diesel continues to be above BEVs in the European Union so far in 2023 (with a 14.5% share compared to 12.9%) but already in the month of June, battery cars surpassed diesel cars for the first time. And that seems to be the dominant trend from now on.