Across Western Europe, new BEV passenger car registrations recorded a monthly year-on-year fall in May (-10.9% y/y), marking the third monthly decline compared to the same month last year over the past six months according to the exclusively compiled European Electric Car Study data, published by Schmidt Automotive Research each month.
During the opening five months of the year, the year-to-date BEV new car registration volumes rose by just 1.7%, bringing January to May volumes to 720,442 (2023: 708,122) in a 4.98 million new passenger car market, or below 15% penetration of the new passenger car market.
Meanwhile, 12-month trailing data shows that new models featuring an internal combustion engine under the bonnet, be that a pure ICE petrol or diesel model, a mild (MHEV) or full (HEV) hybrid, or plug-in hybrid (PHEV), saw their combined share of the new car market rise upwards once again.
During the 12-month trailing period up to and including May 2024, 83.3% of the new car market could be attributed to models capable of refuelling using a petrol or diesel fuel pump. That was up almost one percentage point over a recent low of 82.5% recorded during the 12-month period between December 2022 and November 2023.
2.03 million new BEVs entered the 18 market region during that period compared to 9.6 million models capable of conventional fuelling.
However, the most recent 12-month period data shows that between June 2023 and May 2024, the number of BEVs fell back to 1.97 million new units compared to 9.8 million other models.
However, the reasons for this are clear.
As explained in the full study published each month, a reacceleration from pure electric BEV models is expected from 2025, explained in the regular forecast up to and including 2030, published in the study each month.◼︎︎
More exclusive in-depth data like this and insights are published for subscribers (€) in the The European Electric Car Study published by Schmidt Automotive Research each month, which is available to purchase as a single edition or an annual subscription.
The study now also features a double page in-depth look at the Chinese OEMs as their European expansion slowly begins.
*Western Europe 18 Markets: EU Member States prior to the 2004 enlargement plus EFTA markets Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, plus UK