Electric car Europe divided in two

While the market share of electric vehicles reached 13% of total passenger car sales in Europe at the end of the first quarter of 2023, compared to 12% at the end of the first quarter of 2022, the distribution by country is far from uniform. “Europe is split in two: BEVs have a share greater than 13% in 14 countries and a share less than 13% in 15 countries,” underlines a report by automotive sector analysts Inovev. The most fervent adopters of this technology are the Northern countries, led by Norway (85% market share in the first quarter), Sweden (36%), Finland (31%) and Denmark. (30 %). This is followed by countries with strong purchasing power, such as the Netherlands (26%), Luxembourg (19%), Austria (18%) and Switzerland (17%). Portugal, Ireland and Belgium come next with an identical market share of 16%. Finally, the three largest European countries are at the bottom of this ranking. For France and the United Kingdom, electric vehicles accounted for 15% of sales in the first quarter of 2023, while the market share was only 14% in Germany, “despite very involved national manufacturers”, as highlighted Inovev. At the other end of the spectrum, there are 15 countries where EVs represent less than 13% of the market. In addition to Italy (the fourth largest European automobile market), Spain (fifth largest) and Greece, these are the twelve countries of the former Eastern Europe region.