Key points:
Western Europe's new car market witnessed 812,000 new pure electric BEV models enter the 18 market region during the opening 8-months of 2022. The total new passenger car market during the same period reached just 6.46 million units.
While just under 13 per cent of the new models that entered the market during the past 8-months were zero-emission BEV models, during the past 12-month rolling period, between September 2021 and August 2022, the mix remained at 14 per cent for a second consecutive month.
Between 1.4 and 1.5 million new BEVs are forecast to enter the region in 2022 according to the monthly European Electric Car Study's forecast.
West European new BEV passenger car registrations, despite only seeing a single digit year-on-year increase in monthly new registrations of 9.8 percent in August, in a total market that grew 4 per cent during the same period, is forecast to continue its upward trajectory according to the monthly European Electric Car Study.
All but five markets (Norway, Italy, Austria, Spain and Denmark) saw volumes increase in the late summer month that is impacted by a large case of seasonality with many north European markets shutting down for the summer.
All five nordic markets continued to see their combined BEV and PHEV new registrations remain above one third of their own domestic markets' total new car volumes during the opening 8-months, according to the study.
Southern European markets, Italy, Spain and Greece continue to lag behind the rest of the region with respective BEV mixes of just 3.6%, 3.2% and 2.4% between January and August, indicating price sensitivity of these markets and the upward challenge ahead.
Germany led the way when it came to total BEV new volumes this year with 228,000 new registrations, accounting for 28.1% of the total regional market. The UK followed, almost 100,000 units behind, with 137,500 units, but is expected to receive a large boost in September thanks to the twice yearly license plate changeover which subsequently boosts the market twice a year.
May also interest you: European Electric Car Market Full Year 2021: Executive Summary – Full Year 2021 European Electric Car Study 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