Alternative fuel vehicle registrations - Quarter 2 2017

Brussels, 7 September 2017 – In the second quarter of 2017, EU demand for alternative fuel vehicles (AFV) continued the positive momentum from the first quarter. Registrations went up by 38.0% compared to the same period last year. A total of 204,502 cars with alternative powertrains were registered in the EU, accounting for 5.1% of all passenger cars sold in the second quarter of 2017. Electrically-chargeable vehicles (ECV) accounted for 1.2% of total car sales.

Registrations of hybrid vehicles (HEV) and ECVs grew considerably (up +61.1% and +45.8% respectively); the latter supported by significant growth in demand for both battery (+49.7%) and plug-in electric cars (+42.3%). Registrations of new cars powered by propane or natural gas also increased during the second quarter of the year (+3.3%), largely the result of an uplift in registrations of LPG-fuelled cars (+23.7%).

All five big markets posted double-digit increases, thereby significantly contributing to the positive performance of the EU market. Germany and Spain saw the largest increases over the last quarter, with respectively +91.9% and +80.7%, followed by France (+28.6%), the United Kingdom (+24.4%) and Italy (+18.1%). Growth in most of these countries was fully driven by the electric and hybrid-electric segments. The UK, Germany and France accounted for the largest numbers of new electrically-chargeable cars. The positive performance of the Italian market, on the other hand, was mainly the result of recovering demand for cars running on LPG.

Source: ACEA (European  Autmobile Manufacturers Association)
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