Sharp increase in electric car sales in the EU

In 2023, there was a significant increase in the number of electric cars on Europe's roads. New figures show that 1.5 million new electric cars were registered in the EU, bringing the total number of electric vehicles to 4.5 million. This marks a strong increase compared to the previous year, when 3 million electric cars were on the road at the end of the year.

This growth represents an increase of almost 50% over the year, with EVs accounting for 14.6% of all new car registrations in the EU in 2023. To put this in perspective, the share of EVs was just over 5% of new car registrations as recently as 2020, underlining the rapid development of the EV sector.

Despite the significant increase, electric cars still represent a small share of the total car fleet in the EU, at only 1.7%. Meanwhile, other countries such as Greece, Poland and Cyprus are far behind, with electric cars accounting for only 0.2% of the fleet.

The rapid growth of electric vehicles in the EU reflects both increased investment in charging infrastructure and a growing interest in sustainability among consumers. At the same time, the large differences between Member States show that there are still challenges to be solved to create a more even development across the Union.