Painfully slow electric car take-up runs into April

WESTERN EUROPE / ELECTRIC
Painfully slow electric car take-up runs into April
In cold statistical terms April’s electric car market in Western Europe was good, if nowhere near as good as some market observers would have expected

Published: Wed, 21 May 2014 17:58:05 GMT
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Statistics compiled exclusively by AID show that April’s market for electric cars in Western Europe rose by a half to 3,880 units, thanks once more to yet another strong sales month in Norway, where April sales more than doubled to 1,260 units.

This April, Norway on its own accounted for one-in-three of the electric cars registered in the whole of Western Europe. In stand-alone Norway, Europe’s undisputed electric car capital, the sales share going to electric cars this April shot up to 10.4 per cent.

However, the contrast between Norway and the rest of Europe could barely be sharper.

West Europe’s April electric car sales share, excluding Norway, rose to 0.25 per cent from an equally minuscule 0.21 per cent during the same month last year.

0.4%
Western Europe's electric car share during April 2014

April’s electric car performance in West Europe’s major markets was judged disappointing by all those betting on a big initial splash from recent sector newcomers.

That’s chiefly BMW’s i3 and Volkswagen’s eUp. Perhaps the biggest upset for the region’s already anxious electric car industry, April registrations in France slipped from last year’s already low same month level to just 821 units. Germany’s April electric car story was equally uninspiring.

Contrary to upbeat earlier expectations, following the market debut of sector heavyweights from BMW and Volkswagen, just 599 electric cars took to Germany’s streets for the first time this April.

On the plus side of things that compares with the slightly lower 495 electric cars registered during the same month last year.

April’s combined electric car registration total in the three markets of Norway, Germany and France reached 2,680 units.

The remaining thirteen West European markets monitored every month by AID’s trend-watchers shared the remaining 1,200 electric cars first registered in the entire region last month...more

MORE LIKE THIS:

> NORWAY - Tax-free motoring beats range-anxiety 01 May 2014

> Electric car demand in Norway and rest of Europe remain oceans apart 24 Mar 2014

> In Europe hybrid means Toyota 18 Mar 2014

DATA AVAILABLE TO SUBSCRIBERS WITH THIS ARTICLE:
AID EXCLUSIVE
West European new electric car sales:
by country APRIL 2014 VS APRIL 2013
by country 4-MONTHS 2014 VS 4-MONTHS 2013

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0.4% Western Europe's electric car share during April 2014

0.4%
Western Europe's electric car share during April 2014