ACEA: EU electric car registrations up 53% last year, 82% in Czechia

A total of 703 electric cars were added in the Czech Republic in 2018, an 82% increase on the previous year. Including plug-in hybrids, there were 981 more electrically powered vehicles on Czech roads than in 2017. 

The gradual development of electric mobility in Europe continued in 2018. Compared with 2017, around 83,000 more electric cars and roughly 152,000 more plug-in hybrids were soldacross the European Union last year. Both types of drivetrain recorded year-on-year growth of more than a third.

The Czech Republic also kept pace, with electric car sales almost doubling. Compared with the previous year, 82% more battery-electric vehicles were sold – total sales in 2018 reached 703 units, compared with 387 units the previous year, according to statistics from the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association.

The statistics also show that petrol-powered cars were substantially more popular than diesel vehicles in the European Union. Compared with 2017, the number of registered diesel vehicles fell by 18.3%, while registrations of petrol cars rose by 12.8%.

Among other things, the statistics show that the market for electric cars and plug-in hybrids differs substantially between EU member states, even when taking the size of individual countries into account. While the number of registered electric cars is in the low hundreds in some countries, it runs into tens of thousands in others.

„The year's standout“ is the Netherlands

By a considerable margin, the Netherlands recorded the largest increase in newly registered electric cars. While just under 9,900 electric cars were registered in 2017, the number of new registrations exceeded 26,500 last year. There was a significant increase especially in the final quarter – more than 11,000 vehicles were registered.

Developments in the Netherlands, which has around 17 million inhabitants, were significantly influenced by support from the national government. This involved not only financial incentives and other preferential measures, but also infrastructure development. According to information from the middle of last year, there were around 25,000 electric cars on Dutch roads, while the number of charging points was 10,000 higher.