This is the first time in history this happens.
Subsidies and incentives are part of the drive behind EVs.
More than 20% of all new sales in Europe were EVs in December.
Electric vehicles continue to draw attention and sales from consumers. And for the first time ever in Europe, fully electric vehicles sales have outnumbered them, and the trend is on the rise.
Last December, more than one-fifth of all new vehicle sales went to EVs across 18 European markets. In contrast, diesel and diesel hybrid vehicles accounted for fewer than 19% of the region’s overall sales.
There are a number of factors behind these historical results. The principal one is incentives which can be considered extremely generous. As well, European automakers are being forced to deliver more EVs to lower their fleet-wide carbon footprint and avoid emission-related fines.
Volkswagen diesel engine | Photo: Volkswagen
The slow migration away from diesel vehicles is not new but hit a milestone in December as 176,000 EVs were sold in western Europe compared to close to 160,000 diesels according to the Financial Times.
“The diesel death march has been playing on repeat since September 2015 when ‘Dieselgate’ was first unveiled — causing VW to draw up the first plans of the ID.3 within 30 days of the scandal coming to light,” said independent auto analyst Matthias Schmidt, referring to Volkswagen’s flagship electric vehicle, which has been on sale since 2020.
