European Full Electric Car Sales (By Nation) : 2020-21

I have been reading some car magazines lately and they all had the theme of electric cars on the cover. Are they trying to tell us something? With sales in Europe up 107% in 2020 and 63% in 2021 they (BEVs) are making inroads. Mind you that's still only 10% of the total even with strong financial support for their acquisition. 

Of course, we are only looking at full electric cars and not hybrid vehicles so 10% may be considered an excellent result. I wonder if a ceiling will be reached as not everyone wants or is suited for BEV ownership. I know in a single car family such as mine a BEV is simply not going to happen regardless of incentives. 

That aside, what's below is what has transpired over the past two years. In the 'Diff' column green shows countries that are switching to BEVs faster than the Euro average and yellow slower. Germany has been ahead for the past two years, as has the UK. In fact, the UK has moved up from 5th to 2nd over the last three years. 

Data source: ACEA.

The data above doesn't explain which countries have the best BEV penetration. Increases are all very well but it doesn't take into account how far a country has already gone to successfully promote BEVs. 

A case in point is Norway which has increased less than the Euro average for the two years shown above. To the right is another chart showing the percentage a nation is above or below that average. Norway's BEV sales volume for 2021 is over 500% above its percentage of total European sales. 

As to why countries vary so much will depend on various factors such as how much they can afford when offering incentives, charging infrastructure and the degree of the inconvenience of BEV ownership in that place. 

Each chart highlights a different angle. The top total volume and to the right BEV penetration. The data is certainly not provided to praise or criticise. As mentioned there are too many factors that affect the take up of BEVs. 

I have briefly driven an electric car in a town environment and liked it. Yet it isn't an option for our family and there would be many others in the same boat. So why is the industry so focused on BEVs as apparently the only realistic way forward for private transport? That's for another article.