New Energy World™
New Energy World™ embraces the whole energy industry as it connects and converges to address the decarbonisation challenge. It covers progress being made across the industry, from the dynamics under way to reduce emissions in oil and gas, through improvements to the efficiency of energy conversion and use, to cutting-edge initiatives in renewable and low-carbon technologies.
As EV sales decelerate – what’s going wrong?
2/4/2025
8 min read
Feature
European electric car sales fell by 5.9% in 2024 but rebounded at the beginning of this year. Jack Carfrae examines the market’s ups and downs and asks what role Chinese new entrant electric vehicles (EVs) are playing.
Late-2024 sales figures would have many believe European buyers were giving up on EVs. EV registrations fell by 10.2% to 144,367 units in December, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA), with especially big drops in Germany (38.6%) and France (20.7%), contributing to an annual fall of 5.9% across the bloc.
That left EVs with a 13.6% market share in what was a relatively flat overall market (10.6 million units, up 0.8%). They paled in comparison to conventional (non-plug-in) hybrids, sales of which rose by 33.1% in December. Hybrids finished the year with a 30.9% market share, strengthening their position as the EU’s second most popular passenger car fuel type, behind petrol at 33.3%.
Prices obviously vary by model and manufacturer, but hybrids are often cheaper than equivalent EVs and, crucially, drivers can use them exactly as they would a petrol or a diesel car, rendering them the most accessible electrified option, albeit the least progressive in clean energy terms.