European Union’s (EU) sales of hybrid electric vehicles (EVs) accounted for 18.4pc of the total vehicle sales in Q1 2021, according to European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA).
Sales of battery EVs accounted for 5.7pc of EU total car sales while plug-in hybrid vehicles made up 8.2pc of the total vehicles registered in the EU in the first quarter of the year.
Sales of battery EVs increased by 59.1pc to 146,185 units in Q1 2021 compared to 91,864 units in the same quarter last year. Plug-in hybrid EVs in the EU grew by 175pc in the first quarter of the year to 208,389 units compared to 75,782 units in the same period last year. ACEA reported that the EU’s sales of hybrid EVs also surged by 101.6pc to 469,784 vehicles in Q1 2021 from 232,985 units in Q1 2020.
EU’s sales of natural gas vehicles saw a 10.1pc decline to 14,300 units in the first three months of the year compared to 15,901 units in the same period last year. Its sales of other alternatively powered vehicles saw a 92.7pc increase to 46,037 units in the three months’ period compared to 23,889 vehicles in the same period last year, ACEA reported.
EU’s sales of petrol vehicles declined by 16.9pc to 1.07 million units in the first quarter of 2021 compared to 1.29 million vehicles in the same months last year. Sales of diesel vehicles in the EU fell by 20.1pc to 593,559 units in Q1 2021 compared to 742,434 vehicles in Q1 2021, ACEA stated.