Europe: Plug-In Car Sales Reached Spectacular Record In December 2022

December was a very special month for plug-in electric car sales in Europe, as many new records were set.

According to EV Volumes data, shared by Jose Pontes, 413,483 new passenger plug-in cars were registered in Europe in December (up 46 percent year-over-year), which represents 38 percent of the total market. We never saw such high numbers – the previous record was nearly 282,000 in November.

All-electric car registrations also reached a new spectacular record of 275,277 units, which is not only 51 percent more than a year ago, but also 25 percent of the total car market.

Plug-in hybrids expanded to 138,206 units, but this might be the last rush, before ending incentives in some European markets. In general, January/early 2023 might be a slower time in terms of plug-in car sales, but that’s not unusual.

New plug-in car registrations:

• BEVs: 275,277 (up 51% year-over-year) and 25% share
• PHEVs: 138,206 (up 40% year-over-year) and 13% share
• Total: 413,483 (up 46% year-over-year) and 38.0% share

In 2022, more than 2.6 million new passenger plug-in electric cars were registered in Europe. That’s about 23 percent of the total volume (compared to 19 percent a year earlier and 11 percent two years ago).

It’s worth noting that BEVs expanded their share from roughly 10 percent to 14 percent, while PHEVs stuck at 9 percent.

• BEVs: about *1.58 million and 14% share
• PHEVs: about *1.02 million and 9% share
• Total: 2,602,431 and 23% share

* estimated from the market share

In December, once again two Tesla electric cars were at the top – Model Y with an all-time EV monthly record of 32,442 and Model 3 with 20,335 (down 23 percent year-over-year). The Model Y was also the top-selling car in Europe overall.

The next two most popular models were the Volkswagen ID.4 (13,685 and a new record) and Volkswagen ID.3 (11,561, the second-best monthly result ever), followed by the plug-in hybrid Ford Kuga PHEV.

Many models set their best monthly registration results in December.

Results last month:

1. Tesla Model Y – 32,442
2. Tesla Model 3 – 20,335
3. Volkswagen ID.4 – 13,685
4. Volkswagen ID.3 – 11,561
5. Ford Kuga PHEV – 10,726
6. Dacia Spring  – 9,694
7. Fiat 500 electric – 8,333
8. Renault Megane E-Tech – 8,084
9. Volvo XC40 Recharge – 7,732
10. Cupra Born – 7,489

After 12 months of 2022, the two Tesla cars were far ahead of the other plug-ins with respectively 138,373 Model Y and 91,257 Model 3 (down from 142,905 in 2021).

Outstanding sales results of the Volkswagen ID.4 in late 2022 allowed it to overtake the Fiat 500 electric and become the third most popular electric car in Europe.

The Ford Kuga PHEV (in the United States known as the Ford Escape PHEV) was the top-selling plug-in hybrid last year.

Results year-to-date:

1. Tesla Model Y – 138,373
2. Tesla Model 3 – 91,257
3. Volkswagen ID.4 – 68,409
4. Fiat 500 electric – 66,732
5. Ford Kuga PHEV – 55,018
6. Volkswagen ID.3 – 53,287
7. Skoda Enyaq iV – 52,635
8. Dacia Spring – 48,948
9. Peugeot e-208 – 46,834
10. Audi Q4 e-tron – 42,540
11. Hyundai Kona Electric – 41,880
12. Kia Niro EV (e-Niro) – 38,633
13. Hyundai Ioniq 5 – 38,080
14. Renault Zoe – 37,313
15. Mini Cooper SE – 34,828
16. Audi e-tron – 34,547
17. BMW 3 Series PHEV – 34,520
18. Renault Megane E-Tech – 33,187
19. Cupra Born – 32,615
20. Polestar 2 – 32,143

Tesla was the most popular EV brand in Europe last year, but as an automotive group, it was actually far behind the largest multi-brand OEMs.

Top plug-in brands (share year-to-date):

• Tesla – 9.0%
• BMW – 8.6%
• Volkswagen – 8.4%
• Mercedes-Benz – 8.2%
• Audi – 5.6%
• Kia – 5.4%
• Volvo – 5.3%
• Peugeot – 4.9%

Top plug-in automotive groups (share year-to-date):

• Volkswagen Group – 20.6% share (Volkswagen brand at 8.4%, Audi at 5.6%)
• Stellantis – 14.6% share
• BMW Group – 10.5% share (BMW brand at 8.6%)
• Hyundai Motor Group – 10.1 % share (Kia brand at 5.4%, Hyundai at 4.7%)
• Mercedes Group – 9.0% share (Mercedes-Benz brand at 8.2%)
• Tesla – 9.0% share
• Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance – 8.7% share
• Geely–Volvo- 7.6%