According to Pike Research, while hybrid vehicles have been widely available for more than a dozen years, the global market for plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) has grown in the last 2 years, reaching more than 120,000 unit sales worldwide in 2012.
Pike forecast 827,000 PEVs will be sold in Europe in 2020, representing 4% of total new car sales. According to Pike’s research, the biggest spike in sales will be of electric cars themselves, with more than 1.8million electric cars on the road by 2020 in Europe. Meanwhile, there will be 1.7million hybrid cars on the road and 1.2million plug-in hybrid electric cars.
The report also highlights that in 2011, battery electric cars accounted for just 0.1 per cent of the market – with France, Germany and Norway selling just over 2,000 electric cars and the UK in fourth place with just over 1,000 electric cars sold. Most of these sales were to government agencies and utility companies: an indication that the market is still testing the technology and highlighting the need for electric car charging infrastructure to become more widely available.
Germany, France, Norway, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Sweden are set to lead the way for electric car sales on the continent – accounting for 67 per cent of the total market and each accounting for a volume exceeding six figures. Only four countries however, will sell more than 100,000 plug-in hybrid vehicles: Germany, France, Italy and the UK.
The report also highlights that in 2011, battery electric cars accounted for just 0.1 per cent of the market – with France, Germany and Norway selling just over 2,000 electric cars and the UK in fourth place with just over 1,000 electric cars sold. Most of these sales were to government agencies and utility companies: an indication that the market is still testing the technology and highlighting the need for electric car charging infrastructure to become more widely available.
