The European passenger car market is flourishing, and the Netherlands sits at the core, linking Norway, the top performer, with the European Union (EU) countries and pioneering the transformation with other Western European countries. The chain reaction in the Western part of Europe is encouraging, as the most recent figures display a market almost totally free of the pandemic crisis.
The Dutch electric vehicle (EV) market summarises Europe’s transformation well. It has a fully-fledged EV ecosystem with the densest charging infrastructure on the continent and is closely linked to Norway and the UK, which are top performers in the non-EU. Starting from the Dutch market in 2022 and going up to the most recent figures in Europe, we can see a mostly positive transformation in the continent.
According to the European Environmental Agency (EEA), the sales of EV passenger car sales increased in the whole of Europe in 2022, led by Norway (89%), Sweden (58%) and Iceland (56%). Regarding all-electric passenger cars, Germany, France, and Norway represented 64% of all registrations, with Norway leading the sales of battery electric vehicles (BEVs), grabbing 79% of all the new car sales.
The Netherlands is among the top five electrified countries worldwide by the end of 2022:
Norway 80% Iceland 41% Sweden 32% Netherlands 24% China 22% The EU represented 12% of the global EV sales, and the US 6%.
The Netherlands aims to reach 100% zero-emission in all new passenger cars sold by 2030. The declining costs of EV batteries and the substantial subsidies provided by the Dutch state significantly pushed sales up in recent years, with 8.2% of the country’s car fleet being electric and 2.8% of fleets fully electric as of 2021. Under a current subsidy scheme between 1 July 2020 and 31 December 2024, private individuals can benefit from a €2,950 subsidy when leasing or purchasing a new electric car and €2,000 for a used car.
As of 31 January 2023, the share of newly sold EVs among all passenger car sales is as follows:
BEV 15,3% PHEV 12,6% FCEV 0,01%
As of the same date, the number of top 10 BEVs registered in NL:
Tesla Model 3 42,618 Kia Niro 19,815 Volkswagen ID.3 16,802 Hyundai Kona 16,688 Renault Zoe 13,195 Skoda Enyaq 12,616 Nissan Leaf 12,193 Audi E-Tron 11,567 Tesla Model S 10,899 Volkswagen Golf 10,019 Source: Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO.nl)
As of the same date, 57 passenger cars in the A, B, and C segment BEVs were available in the Netherlands with a starting price below €45,000; Volvo XC40 was the most expensive option, with €44,995 starting price, and the Dacia Spring Electric was the most affordable, with a €17,890 starting price.
In the EV market, there’s great competition between BEVs and PHEVs in the Netherlands. Sales of EVs were the highest in December of 2023, with PHEVs grabbing 52% of the market and BEVs 42% (from 35% in 2022). The total number of registrations in the Dutch EV market in December 2023 was 13,795.
Domination in the charging infrastructure
In 2022, Germany and the Netherlands, occupying 14.5% of Europe’s land mass, had half of the European Union (EU) charging points. As of 2023, France was added to the equation, with the share of the charging points of three countries being 52%, leaving 48% to the remaining 24 countries.
The Dutch National Charging Infrastructure Agenda (NAL), aligned with the Fit for 55 package of Europe, aims to reduce greenhouse gases (GHG) by 55% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels. By sticking to this goal, the Netherlands has the densest charging network in Europe today.
According to NAL, the Netherlands passed the 500,000 charging points by the end of April 2023, reaching 518,000, including private, public and semi-public charging stations (located at business parks, supermarkets, etc.). NAL says that network congestion, which relates to a shortage of supply and demand on the electricity network, is a significant obstacle in reaching a nationwide charging network by 2025.
There are 171,153 charging stations in the Netherlands, according to Electromaps, including over a million charging points, with AC charging points with a maximum of 22 kW capacity and fast-charging points above 22 kW capacity, going up to 400 kW.
How did Europe end 2023?
For Europe, December 2023 is a good summary for the year, the month the European market witnessed a slight decline in new car sales for the first time after 16 months. Registrations according to fuel type are as follows:
Petrol 35,3% HEV 25,8% BEV 14.6% Diesel 13,6% PHEV 7,7%
According to ACEA, BEV registrations in Europe declined for the first time since April 2020, marking the pandemic’s peak, shrinking 16.9% and getting stuck at 160,700. The sales of PHEVs also declined in December 2023, shrinking 40.2%. Germany witnessed a remarkable drop of 47.6% and 74.4% in the two segments, respectively. In the HEV market, however, Germany was the leader with 38%, and the EU registrations in the last month of 2023 surged by 26%.
How did 2024 start for Europe?
The first month of 2024 displayed a profile of the European EV passenger car market, supported by subsidies and tax incentives, bolstered by various affordable models, and encouraged by expanding charging infrastructure.
In January 2024, EV sales in Europe, including the UK, surged 29.3% year-on-year, further widening the gap with internal combustion engine (ICE) models. Petrol passenger car sales saw a slight 2.4% increase, while diesel, dominating commercial vehicles but fading in passenger cars, dropped 5.4%.
Among the top-performing countries, Norway again witnessed a unique explosion in BEV sales, followed by other pioneering EV countries (ACEA):
Norway 281.3% UK 31.1% Germany 23,9% France 36,8% Belgium 75,5% Netherlands 72,2%
In total, 102,926 BEVs were sold in Europe (including Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, and the UK). Belgium, the Netherlands, France, and Germany represented 66% of all BEV sales in the EU. Hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), which are not plugged in but have a battery charged through generative breaking and an ICE engine, were the second most demanded passenger car type. The first month of January saw the sales of 245,068 hybrids in the EU, an increase of 23.5% year-on-year. The top EU markets for HEVs are Spain (+26.5%), France (+29.9%), Germany (+24.3%), and Italy (+14 %). Sales of PHEVs reached 66,600 in January 2024, an increase of 23.8% year-on-year.
Three brands dominated the sales in Europe and the UK, representing over 52% of the share in the European and UK market:
Volkswagen Group: 258,402 Stellantis: 183,120 Renault: 92,935
However, the disparity in new EV car sales and the expansion of charging locations across Europe remain. In 2022, the share of EV car sales remained lower than 5% in Cyprus, Poland, Czechia, and Slovakia. In December 2023, the EU car market in eastern regions presented one-digit growth in general, and Hungary even declined—by 3.4%.
With the mission going well on the Western Front, the EU will most likely address the disparity more diligently in 2024.
The main photo is courtesy of Shutterstock, 2327539359.
Source link : https://www.fleeteurope.com/fr/new-energies/europe-netherlands/analysis/electrification-europe-looking-ev-explosion-dutch?t%5B0%5D=The%20Netherlands&t%5B1%5D=Electrification&curl=1
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Publish date : 2024-03-19 03:00:00
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