Key points:
With one month of the year still remaining new BEV volumes break through 1 million
Every tenth (10.4%) new car registered across Western Europe was a BEV this year
Including PHEVs every fifth new car (20%) this year came with a plug
According to latest Schmidt Automotive Research provisional data for November, Western Europe's 18* market region, monitored by the European Electric Car Report each month, broke through the significant 1 million new BEV passenger car registrations landmark this year, recording a provisional 1.01 million units between January and November this year.
With one month of the year remaining, Western Europe's 18* markets are already outpacing previous full-year volumes by over 40 per cent and are likely to finish the year almost half a million units ahead of 2020's full-year volumes (727,900).
During the opening 11-months of the year, according to the European Electric Car Report's provisional data, the BEV market penetration was 10.4 per cent.
With PHEVs added to the equation, combined new plug-ins saw the 20 per cent milestone achieved and accounted for every fifth new car registered across the region this year.
1.94 million plug-in units were recorded so far this year, according to the report's data, with the forecast over 2 million units now all but a procedure.
The total new plug-in market last year reached 1.33 million units
Germany accounted for almost every third (31%) new regional plug-in registration so far this year which was double that of the next largest market, the UK (13.9%).
BEV volumes increased significantly in 2020 due to the sharpened EU mass-adjusted CO2 fleet average targets increasing from 130g/km (NEDC) from 2015-2019, to 95g/km in 2020.
Last year was a so-called phase-in year of this target, meaning the worst 5 per cent highest emitting part of the sales mix could be omitted, and also included various tools such as the highest value of super-credits for zero and low emitting vehicles (ZLEV) with a limited amount of 7.5g/km on offer for the first 3-years of the new target.
A large amount of manufacturers used this allowance up in 2020 resulting in more BEVs having to be registered this year in order to reach the CO2 finish line.
More analysis published in the full monthly report.
The European Electric Car Flash Report which is published on a monthly basis covers the entire West European region in a detailed data-driven manner.
May also interest you: CO2: Exclusive: Ford join VW Group CO2 pool in the UK... According to the latest exclusive Schmidt Automotive Research and United Kingdom government data, Ford has joined Volkswagen Group's UK-only CO2 pool for 2021. click here for the story
*Western Europe 18 Markets: EU Member States prior to the 2004 enlargement plus EFTA markets Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, plus UK