Electric car sales grow 37% in 2023 in Europe, contribute 14.6% to overall sales

Electric car sales shot up significantly in the European market. Sales of the new electric cars grew 37 per cent year-on-year in the continent last year and accounted for 14.6 per cent of overall sales, revealed the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association. Leveraging the trend of rising demand for electric vehicles, Tesla saw sales of its electric cars nearly double in the continent last year to 279,000 units.

Not only the electric cars, sales of the hybrid models also soared in 2023, up by nearly 30 per cent, claimed AFP. However, sales of the plug-in hybrid vehicles, which come equipped with an internal combustion engine and a small rechargeable electric battery witnessed sales decline for the first time. This segment recorded about a seven per cent drop in sales after many countries across the continent phased out state incentives. Petrol-powered cars in the continent contributed the largest part of the new vehicle sales last year, at 35.3 per cent, representing about 37 lakh units.

What's most interesting was that the pure electric Tesla Model Y took the crown of the top-selling car in Europe in 2023. It even beat the affordable sibling like the Tesla Model 3 and took the top spot in the chart with over 254,000 units sold across Europe in 2023. Buoyed by the rising demand for electric vehicles, new car sales in the continent rebounded by 13.9 per cent last year as sales of the zero-emission pure electric cars overtook diesel vehicles for the first time. This marked a stark turnabout from the sales figures of 2022 when new vehicle sales dropped to their lowest levels in the continent since 1993 owing to the microchip shortages, intensified by the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The European Automobile Manufacturers' Association has stated that sales in countries like France, Italy and Spain posted double-digit growth in 2023 as compared to the sales recorded in 2022. However, it also revealed that sales of new vehicles were still far below what they were in the pre-pandemic era.

This rising demand and sales of electric vehicles come at a time when the automakers in the continent face a 2035 deadline set by the European Union to phase out sales of all internal combustion engine-powered vehicles.