This article describes the use, market penetration and market share of new car sales of electric cars by country. It also provides historical background, fleet size, existing government incentives, and deployment details by country. The article encompasses both low-speed neighborhood electric vehicle (NEVs) and highway-capable all-electric cars (BEVs). Several countries publish their statistics and have purchase incentives schemes in place for the more general category of plug-in electric cars (PEVs), which includes also plug-in hybrids (PHEVs). Hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) are not included because they can not be plugged and recharged from an off-vehicle electric energy source.
Cumulative global sales of highway legal plug-in electric passenger cars and light utility vehicles achieved the 2Â million unit milestone in December 2016, of which, 38% were sold in 2016. Global sales of the light-duty plug-in vehicle segment achieved a 0.86% market share of total new car sales in 2016, up from 0.62% in 2015 and 0.38% in 2014. The global ratio between all-electric cars (BEVs) and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) was 61:39 at the end of 2016, up from 59:41 at the end of 2015. Global sales of highway-capable pure electric cars passenger cars and utility vans reached the one million milestone in September 2016. Cumulative sales of plug-in hybrids totaled almost 800,000 units as of December 2016. Despite their rapid growth, plug-in electric cars represented 0.15% of the 1.4Â billion motor vehicles on the world's roads by the end of 2016, up from 0.1% in 2015.
As of December 2016, China has the world's largest stock of highway legal light-duty plug-in electric vehicles with cumulative sales of more than 645,000 plug-in electric passenger cars. Among country markets, the United States ranks second with more than 570,000 plug-in electric cars sold through December 2016. Japan is the world's third largest plug-in car country market with about 147,500 plug-ins sold through December 2016. More than 637,000 light-duty plug-in electric passenger cars have been registered in Europe up until December 2016, representing 31.4% of global sales. As of December 2016, sales in the European light-duty plug-in electric segment are led by Norway with over 135,000 units registered, followed by the Netherlands with more than 113,000 units registered at the end of December 2016, and France with over 108,000 units. China is the world's leader in the plug-in heavy-duty segment, including all-electric buses, and plug-in commercial and sanitation trucks. The stock of new energy vehicles sold in China totaled more than 951,000 units through December 2016. As of December 2015, China was the world's largest plug-in electric bus market with a stock of almost 173,000 vehicles.
Norway is the country with the highest market penetration per capita in the world, also the country with the largest plug-in electric segment market share of new car sales (29.1% in 2016), and in March 2014 Norway became the first country where over 1 in every 100 passenger cars on the roads is a plug-in electric vehicle. The segment's market penetration climbed to 3% in December 2015, and achieved 5% at the end of 2016. Estonia, which has the second largest EV market penetration per capita after Norway, is the first country that completed the deployment of an EV charging network with nationwide coverage, with fast chargers available along highways at a minimum distance between 40 to 60Â km (25 to 37Â mi).
Global outlook
Cumulative global sales of highway legal plug-in electric passenger cars and light utility vehicles reached the one million unit milestone in September 2015, and achieved two million in December 2016. Sales of plug-in electric vehicles achieved the one million milestone almost twice as fast as hybrid electric vehicles (HEV). While it took four years and 10 months for the PEV segment to reach one-million sales, it took more than around nine years and a few months for HEVs to reach its first million sales. The stock of light-duty plug-in electric vehicles represented 0.15% of the 1.4Â billion motor vehicles on the world's roads by the end of 2016, up from 0.1% in 2015. When sales are broken down by type of powertrain, all-electric cars have oversold plug-in hybrids, with pure electrics capturing about 61% of the global stock of over 2Â million plug-ins on the world's roads by the end of 2016, up from 58.9% at the end of 2015. The global ratio between all-electrics (BEVs) and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) has consistently been 60:40 between 2014 and the first half of 2016, mainly due to the large all-electric market in China. In the U.S. and Europe, the ratio is approaching a 50:50 split. Cumulative global sales of highway-capable light-duty pure electric vehicles since 2010 achieved the one million unit milestone in September 2016. Cumulative sales of plug-in hybrid cars totaled almost 800,000 units as of December 2016.
The global stock of plug-in electric vehicles between 2005 and 2009 consisted exclusively of all-electric cars, totaling about 1,700 units in 2005, and almost 6,000 in 2009. The plug-in stock rose to about 12,500 units in 2010, of which, only 350 vehicles were plug-in hybrids. By comparison, during the Golden Age of the electric car at the beginning of the 20th century, the EV stock peaked at approximately 30,000 vehicles. After the introduction of the Nissan Leaf and the Chevrolet Volt in late December 2010, the first mass-production plug-in cars by major carmakers, plug-in car sales grew to about 50,000 units in 2011, jumped to 125,000 in 2012, and rose to almost 213,000 plug-in electric cars and utility vans in 2013. Sales totaled over 315,000 units in 2014, up 48% from 2013.
In five years, global sales of highway legal light-duty plug-in electric vehicles have increased more than ten-fold, totaling more than 565,00 units in 2015. Plug-in sales in 2015 increased about 80% from 2014, driven mainly by China and Europe. Both markets passed in 2015 the U.S. as the largest plug-in electric car markets in terms of total annual sales, with China ranking as the world's best-selling plug-in electric passenger car country market in 2015. About 775,000 plug-in cars and vans were sold in 2016, representing 38% of cumulative global sales at the end of 2016. The global market share of the light-duty plug-in vehicle segment represented 0.86% of new car sales in 2016, up from 0.62% in 2015 and 0.38% in 2014.
As of December 2016, with cumulative sales of more than 645,000 plug-in electric passenger cars, China has the world's largest fleet of light-duty plug-in electric vehicles, after having overtook during 2016 both the U.S. and Europe in terms of cumulative sales. This figure accounts for both, domestically produced new energy passenger cars and imports. The fleet of Chinese plug-in cars represents 43.0% of the global stock of light-duty plug-in vehicles. Among country markets, the U.S. ranks second, with over 570,000 plug-in passenger cars sold through December 2016, representing 28.1% of the global stock of plug-ins. Japan has the world's third largest plug-in stock, with about 147,500 highway legal plug-in electric vehicles sold in the country between July 2009 and December 2016. Total Japanese sales of light-duty plug-in vehicles represent 7.3% of the global stock of plug-ins as of December 2016. In 2014 Japan had second largest plug-in stock with about 108,000 units.
As of December 2016, about 637,500 plug-in electric passenger cars and vans have been registered in Europe, representing 31.4% of the global stock, the second largest after China. Of these, more than 212,000 light-duty vehicles were registered in Europe in 2016. As of December 2016, European sales of plug-in cars and vans are led by Norway with over 135,000 units registered, followed by the Netherlands with more than 113,000 units, and France with over 108,000. Norway was the top selling plug-in country market in Europe in 2016 with 45,492 plug-in cars and vans registered, surpassing the Netherlands, Europe’s top market in 2015. By the end of 2015, almost 25% of the European plug-in stock was registered in the Nordic countries, with over 100,000 registered plug-in electric cars. As of December 2016, ranking next is the UK with about 91,000 units, followed by Germany with almost 75,000, and Sweden with over 30,500. The other top selling country market is Canada with more than 27,000 new plug-in cars sold since 2011.
As of December 2015, France ranked as the largest European market for light-duty electric commercial vehicles or utility vans, accounting for nearly half of all vans sold in the European Union. The French market share of all-electric utility vans reached a market share of 1.22% of new vans registered in 2014, and 1.30% in 2015. Denmark is the second largest European market, with over 2,600 plug-in electric vans sold in 2015, with an 8.5% market share of all vans sold in the country. Most of the van sold in the Danish market are plug-in hybrids, accounting for almost all of the plug-in hybrid van sales across the EU.
New energy vehicle sales in China totaled more than 733,000 units units sold between January 2011 and September 2016. These figures include heavy-duty commercial vehicles such buses and sanitation trucks, and only include vehicles manufactured in the country as imports are not subject to government subsidies. The country achieved record sales of more than 200,000 new energy passenger cars in 2015, allowing China to rank as the world's top selling plug-in passenger car country market in 2015, ahead of the United States, the leading market in 2014. As of December 2015, China is also the world's leader in the plug-in heavy-duty segment, including electric buses, plug-in trucks, particularly sanitation/garbage trucks. As of December 2015, the global stock of plug-in electric buses was estimated to be about 173,000 units, almost entirely deployed in China, the world's largest electric bus market. Of these, almost 150,000 were all-electric buses. The Chinese electric bus stock grew nearly sixfold between 2014 and 2015. The production of all-electric buses in China totaled 115,664 units in 2016, up 31% from 88,248 units produced in 2015. In a few other countries, there are electric bus fleets, deployed in a few major cities mainly as pilots and demonstration projects. As of December 2015, there are 100 electric buses in India, 94 in the Netherlands, 30 in Sweden, and 21 in Japan.
The following table presents plug-in electric vehicle stock and PEV market share of new car sales between 2013 and 2015 for the ten countries with the largest plug-in electric-drive stock as of December 2015.
California is the largest U.S. car market, and accounts for approximately 48% of cumulative plug-in sales in the American market from 2011 to June 2016. The other nine states that follow California's Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) regulations have accounted for another 10% of cumulative plug-in car sales in the U.S. during the same period. California's plug-in stock totaled about 270,000 units at the end of 2016. Until December 2014 California had more plug-in electric vehicles than any other country, and in 2015 only two countries, Norway (22.4%) and the Netherlands (9.7%), achieved a higher plug-in market share than California. As of December 2016, China is the only country market that exceeds California in terms of cumulative plug-in electric car sales. Plug-in electric cars represented about 0.5% of the passenger fleet on the Californian roads by September 2015. Among U.S. states, California has the highest concentration of registered plug-in cars per 1,000 people, 4.68, as of December 2015. Only Norway has a higher concentration of plug-ins per capita.
Norway, with a population of about 5.2 million, is the country with the highest plug-in electric car ownership per capita in the world, with a market concentration of 21.5 registered plug-in cars per 1,000 people, 3.6 times higher than California's, the leading American market, and exceeding the U.S. average concentration by 14.2 times. In March 2014, Norway became the first country where over 1 in every 100 passenger cars on the roads is a plug-in electric. The segment's market penetration reached 2% in March 2015, passed 3% in December 2015, and achieved 5% at the end of 2016. Norway also has the world's largest plug-in electric segment market share of total new car sales, growing from 5.6% in 2013, to 13.8% in 2014, 22.4% in 2015, and reaching 29.1% in 2016. Ranking next is the Netherlands, with a market share of 3.9% in 2014, and 9.7% in 2015. In 2015 nine countries achieved plug-in electric car sales with a market share equal or higher than 1% of total new car sales, up from six in 2014. The nine countries are Norway (22.39%), the Netherlands (9.74%), Hong Kong (4.84%), Iceland (2.93%), Sweden (2.49%), Denmark (2.29%), Switzerland (1.98%), France (1.2%), and the UK (1.1%). In 2015 the European plug-in passenger car market share passed the one percent mark (1.41%) for the first time. The highest-ever monthly market share for plug-in electric segment was achieved in March 2016 in Norway, with one in three new passenger cars registered being a plug-in electric car (33.5%).
The following table presents the top 10 countries according to their PEV market share of total new car sales between 2016 and 2013.
Australia
In 2008 Australia started producing its first commercial all-electric vehicle. Originally called the Blade Runner, its name was changed to Electron, and is already being exported to New Zealand with one purchased by the Environment Minister Dr. Nick Smith. The Electron is based on the Hyundai Getz chassis and has proven popular with government car pools.
In October 2008, Better Place announced plans to deploy charging network to power electric cars in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane in partnership with Australian power company AGL and finance group Macquarie Capital. The initial network deployment was planned to take place in Canberra in late 2011. As of December 2011, 12 public charge spots (power outlets, not battery swap stations) had been installed in Australia. The roll out of the Australian network was initially planned to begin 6 months to a year after the roll out of the network in Denmark. In December 2012, Renault announced that the launch of the Renault Fluence Z.E. was postponed indefinitely following delays with the roll out of Australia's electric vehicle infrastructure. The electric car was scheduled to go on sale to the public from a number of dealers across the country in the fourth quarter of 2012. Better Place explained that delays in the deployments in Israel and Denmark are reflecting in the Australian roll out, which would take place between 12 and 18 months behind the other markets. Better place have since gone bust with the only sign they ever existed being a few lone silver posts standing in (mostly university) car parks. Chargepoint is now the only major operator of a charging network still based and active in Australia.
Beginning in mid-2009, twelve-month field trial was conducted with the Mitsubishi i-MiEV with potential electric vehicle customers, such as local, state and federal government bodies, and major fleet operators. Leasing for fleet customers began in Australia in August 2010. As of May 2011, a total of 110 i-MiEVs had been leased to government and corporate fleets, while retail sales to the public began in August 2011. As of September 2013, the Australian government does not offer any form of incentive or rebate scheme for the purchase of fuel-efficient vehicles by its citizens. As of December 2012, 125 i-MiEVs had been sold in the country, 30 of which were sold by December 2011.
A two-year fleet trial of 10 converted Ford Focus Electric cars, that also included 14 i-MiEVs and 3 Toyota Prius PHEVs, commenced in Western Australia in 2010. Each converted car was equipped with a 23 kWh battery pack, a 27 kW DC motor and a 1000A motor controller. These cars were then used in the study as regular fleet vehicles to find their usability for everyday driving. In July 2011, Nissan Australia provided 16 Nissan Leaf vehicles, to be used by both personal and commercial users, for an electric vehicle trial in Victoria. A total of 19 Leafs were registered in 2011, while sales of the Nissan Leaf in Australia began in June 2012â€"77 units were sold during 2012. The Holden Volt, a plug-in hybrid model, was released onto the Australian market by late 2012 and a total of 80 units were delivered during that year.
A total of 258 plug-in electric cars were sold during 2012, with the i-MiEV as the top selling model, with 95 units sold. Sales during 2013 totaled 304 units, up 20% from 2012. The Nissan Leaf was the top selling plug-in car with 188 units followed by the Holden Volt with 101 units. The EV market share in 2013 was 0.036% of total new car sales in the country. As of September 2013, the largest public charging networks exist in the capital cities of Perth and Melbourne, with around 30 stations (7 kW AC) established in both citiesâ€"smaller networks exist in other capital cities. An Australian standard for charging connectors does not exist as of September 2013.
Since 2014 Mitsubishi is no longer importing the i-MiEV after slow sales due to the high price and due to competition from the more successful Outlander PHEV for battery components. Sales during the first quarter of 2014 totaled 42 units, representing a 0.015% market share of new car sales, and during the first half of 2014 sales reached 114 units. Deliveries of the Tesla Model S in Australia began in late 2014. Deliveries of the BMW i3 also commenced at the end of 2014. Sales during 2014 totaled 1,228 units, up 288% from 2013. The plug-in electric segment reached a 0.11% market share of total new car sales in the country, up threefold from 0.036% in 2013. The surge in sales was due to the introduction of the Mitsubishi Outlander P-HEV, which sold 895 units during 2014, and became Australia's top selling plug-in electric vehicle. Cumulative sales in the Australian market since 2010 reached over 1,950 units by the end of December 2014, up from 304 units in 2013.
A total of 246 Holden Volts had been sold in the country by mid April 2015, with the stock of the first generation almost empty. General Motors announced that it will not build the second generation Volt in right-hand-drive configuration, so the Holden Volt will be discontinued in the country when the remaining stock is sold out. As of April 2015, the following models are available in the Australian market: Nissan Leaf, Tesla Model S, both variants of the BMW i3 (REx and all-electric), BMW i8, Mitsubishi Outlander P-HEV, and Porsche plug-in hybrids, 918 Spyder, Panamera and Cayenne. Other models scheduled to be launched in the country include the Audi A3 e-tron and the Audi Q7 e-tron.
As of December 2014, a total of 65 Model S cars were registered in New South Wales and only four in Victoria. At the end of March 2015, registrations totaled 119 in New South Wales and 54 in Victoria. Although there were no sales figures reported for Tesla in other states, the combined sales of these two states alone were enough for the Model S to rank as the top selling all-electric car in the country for the first quarter of 2015, ahead of the BMW i3 (46) and the Nissan Leaf (31). Australia's top selling plug-in electric vehicle for the first quarter of 2015 was the Outlander P-HEV, with 198 units sold, again in the first quarter of 2016 ranked as the top selling plug-in with 195 units, and continued as the country's all-time best selling plug-in with 2,015 units sold through March 2016 since its introduction in 2013. As of December 2016, about 1,000 Nissan Leafs have been sold since its introduction in the country in 2012.
The following table presents registrations of highway-capable plug-in electric cars by year between 2010 and April 2017:
Belgium
Sales of electric cars in the country rose from 97 units in 2009, to 116 in 2010, 425 in 2011, to 1,038 electric-drive vehicles by early October 2012. Of the latter, only 350 units were sold to individual customers. The three top selling plug-electric cars sold in 2012 through September 2012 are the Opel Ampera with 155 units, the Peugeot iOn with 95, and the Renault Fluence Z.E. with 86 units. The Nissan Leaf sold 57 units during the first half of 2012, and the Chevrolet Volt 24 units during the same period. A total of 900 electric cars were sold in 2012.
The Belgian government established a personal income tax deduction of 30% of the purchase price including VAT of a new electric vehicle, up to €9,510. Plug-in hybrids are not eligible. This tax incentive will end on December 31, 2012. There is also available a tax deduction up to 40% for investments in external recharging stations publicly accessible, to a maximum of €250. The Wallonia regional government has an additional €4,500 eco-bonus for cars registered before December 31, 2011.
Brazil
A total of 117 electric drive vehicles were registered in Brazil in 2012, and 383 during the first ten months of 2013. These figures include both conventional hybrid electric vehicles and plug-in electric cars. Registrations during 2013 represent a 0.01% market share of new cars sales in the country through October 2013. As of February 2013, there were only 70 electric cars registered in the country, of which, 68 are corporate cars, including 9 Nissan Leafs that are being demonstrated as taxis in São Paulo.
As of September 2015, there were 2,214 hybrid and electric vehicles registered in the state of São Paulo, including passenger cars (723), buses, motorcycles and mopeds. Of these, 1,274 electric-drive vehicles are registered in São Paulo city, of which, 387 are passenger cars.
In May 2010 the government put on hold a new policy to promote the introduction of electric cars, and a decision is still pending. Instead, plug-in electric cars and hybrid electric vehicles are subject to high taxes. As of February 2013 these included a 35% import tax, plus a 55% tax on industrialized products (IPI) imported outside Mercosur and Mexico, 13% contribution to social security (PIS/COFINS), and between 12 and 18% tax on transit of goods and services (ICMS), depending on the state, adding up to more than 120%. The tax burden results in an average final price of R$200,000 (US$100,000) for an electric car, and up to R$120,000 (US$60,000) for a regular hybrid. As of March 2014, the IPI for imported hybrid and electric vehicles varies between 13% to 25%, but the government is considering to exempt electric cars from IPI and reduce the tax to hybrids to 2%, the same levy paid by small cars manufactured in Brazil.
In March 2013, the first two Leafs out of a fleet of 15, were deployed in Rio de Janeiro to operate as taxis. This program is a partnership between the government of Rio de Janeiro City, Nissan do Brasil (NBA) and Petrobras Distribuidora. The first two electric taxis are available at the Santos Dumont airport stand, and charging is provided in two Petrobras service stations at the Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas and in the Barra da Tijuca neighborhood. The program is part of the city's goal to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases by 16% by 2016 compared to emission levels of 2005.
In June 2013, Nissan and the government of the State of Rio de Janeiro signed a memorandum of understanding to study the possibility of manufacturing the Nissan Leaf in the state, and the entire infrastructure necessary for running electric cars. The state government would provide fiscal incentives during the investment phase, and the electric car will be exempted from import taxes.
In May 2014 São Paulo city passed a municipal law to exempt plug-in electric, hybrids and fuel cell vehicles from the city's driving restriction scheme (Portuguese: rodÃzio veicular). Also owners of electric drive cars with a purchase price up to R$150,000 (~ US$65,200) are entitled to a 50% reimbursement of the annual car ownership tax (IPVA) for five years up to a total of R$10,000 (~ US$4,300). The benefits went into effect in September 2015.
In September 2014 the BMW i3 became the first plug-in electric car available in the country for retail customers. Due to the high import taxes, the i3 pricing starts at R$225,900 (US$98,500) for the all-electric model and at R$235,950 (US$102,600) for the model with the range-extender. The i3 is available only in eight cities: São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Curitiba, Brasilia, Belo Horizonte, Salvador, Recife, and Joinville. As of June 2016, other plug-ins available for retail sales are the BMW i8 plug-in hybrid, starting at R$799,950 (US$235,280), and the Mitsubishi Outlander P-HEV, starting at R$204,990 (US$60,290).
According to Research and Markets, electric vehicles sales in the country are expected to reach 80,000 units annually in 2020. The research firm forecasts that the Brazilian electric vehicle market will likely be dominated by scooter and motorcycles.
Canada
Cumulative sales of plug-in electric cars in Canada passed the 20,000 unit mark in May 2016. The Chevrolet Volt, released in 2011, is the all-time top selling plug-in electric vehicle in the country, with cumulative sales of 6,387 units through May 2015, representing over 30% of all plug-in cars sold in the country. Ranking second is the Tesla Model S with 4,160 units sold through April 2016, followed by the Nissan Leaf with 3,692 units delivered as of May 2016. The Model S was the top selling plug-in electric car in Canada in 2015 with 2,010 units sold.
Quebec is the regional market leader in Canada, with about 11,000 plug-in electric cars registered as of September 2016, of which, 55% are plug-in hybrids. Registrations in the province totaled 3,100 units in 2015, representing a market share of 0.7% of new car sales, and 45% of total Canadian plug-in electric car sales that year.
A total of 1,969 plug-in cars were sold in 2012, up from 521 in 2011. Sales climbed 57.7% in 2013 to 3,106 units, and in 2014 were up 63.0% from 2013 to 5,062 units, reaching cumulative sales of 10,658 plug-in cars through December 2014. The market share of the plug-in electric car segment grew from 0.03% in 2011, to 0.12% in 2012, and reached 0.27% of new car sales in the country in 2014.
British Columbia is the only place in the country where it is legal to drive a low-speed vehicle (LSV) electric car on public roads, although it also requires low speed warning marking and flashing lights. Quebec is allowing LSVs in a three-year pilot project. These cars will not be allowed on the highway, but will be allowed on city streets.
In January 2009, Hydro-Québec and Mitsubishi signed an agreement to test 50 i-MiEV, at the time, the largest pilot test of electric cars in Canada ever. The test's goal was to allow a better understanding of winter usage of the technology. BC-Hydro and Mitsubishi had previously tested a three-vehicle fleet in British Columbia. In October 2010, Transport Canada and Mitsubishi Motor Sales of Canada announced a partnership to test the Mitsubishi i-MiEV. Transport Canada's ecoTECHNOLOGY for Vehicles (eTV) Program tested two i-MiEVs in government facilities and in a variety of real-world conditions. This program aim was to evaluate the i-MiEV road performance and range. Retail sales of the i-MiEV began in December 2011,
The Nissan Leaf roll-out in Canada began with fleet customers on July 29, 2011, and deliveries to individuals began in late September 2011. As of December 2011, the Leaf was sold only through 27 Leaf-certified dealers for the entire country, and sales are limited to customers who live within a 65Â km (40Â mi) radius of one of those dealers. Cumulative sales through December 2014 reached 1,965 units, and, as of December 2014, the Leaf ranked as the top selling all-electric car in the country.
Retail sales of the Tesla Model S began in 2012, with 95 cars delivered that year. A total of 638 units were sold in 2013, and cumulative sales reached 1,580 units through December 2014, allowing the Model S to rank as the second best selling all-electric car in the country. During 2014 the BMW i3, Kia Soul EV, BMW i8 and Porsche 918 Spyder were introduced in the Canadian market. The top selling models in 2015 were the Tesla Model S with 2,010 units, followed by the Chevrolet Volt with 1,463, the Nissan Leaf with 1,233, the BMW i3 with 367, and the Kia Soul EV with 318. In 2015, the Model S passed the Nissan Leaf as the all-time best selling all-electric car in Canada.
The all-electric Renault Twizy 40 low-speed quadricycle was certified by Transport Canada in March 2016, and is scheduled to be released on the Canadian market by mid-2016.
There were 18,451 highway legal plug-in electric cars registered in Canada as of December 2015, of which, 10,034 (54%) are all-electric cars and 8,417 (46%) are plug-in hybrids. These figures include some used imports from the U.S. Until 2014 Canadian sales were evenly split between all-electric cars (50.8)% and plug-in hybrids (49.2%). The following table presents new car sales by year of all the highway-capable plug-in electric cars available in Canada between 2011 and December 2015.
- Advocacy and meetings
Canada's National Advanced Transportation Center, an electric vehicle advocacy group, will attempt in April 2014 to break the Guinness World Record for the largest electric-vehicle parade.
- Government incentives
Purchase incentives for new plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) were established in Ontario consisting of a rebate between CA$5,000 (4Â kWh battery) to CA$8,500 (17Â kWh or more) (~US$5,050 to US$8,650), depending on battery size, for purchasing or leasing a new PEV after July 1, 2010. The rebates will be available to the first 10,000 applicants who qualify. The province also introduced green-coloured licence plates for exclusive use of plug-in hybrids and battery electric vehicles. These unique green vehicle plates allow PEV owners to travel in the province's carpool lanes until 2015 regardless of the number of passengers in the vehicle. Also, owners are eligible to use recharging stations at GO Transit and other provincially owned parking lots.
Quebec began offering rebates of up to CA$8,000 (~ US$8,358) beginning on January 1, 2012, for the purchase of new plug-in electric vehicles equipped with a minimum of 4 kWh battery, and new hybrid electric vehicles are eligible for a CA$1,000 rebate. All-electric vehicles with high-capacity battery packs were eligible for the full CA$8,000 rebate, and incentives were reduced for low-range electric cars and plug-in hybrids. Quebec's government earmarked CA$50 million(US$52.3 million) for the program, and the maximum rebate amount was set to be slowly reduced every year until a maximum of CA$3,000 in 2015, but the rebates would continue until the fund runs out. There was also a ceiling for the maximum number of eligible vehicles: 10,000 for all-electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, and 5,000 for conventional hybrids.
In November 2013, the provincial government announced its decision to earmark in 2014 an additional CA$65 million (~ US$45.5 million) to fund a three-year extension to the electric-vehicle rebate program. The maximum rebate was kept at CA$8,000, but a graded scale was introduced in order to spread the incentive over 10,000 or more vehicles. Quebec's government also set the goal to deploy 12,500 more electric vehicles in the province by 2017, consisting of 10,200 consumer cars, 325 taxis, and 2,000 government-fleet vehicles. Also, incentives were issued for "greening" 525 taxis, aimed to introduce 325 plug-in vehicles (275 plug-in hybrids and 50 all-electrics) and 200 conventional hybrids. The purchase incentives start at CA$20,000 for battery-electric taxis, CA$12,000 for plug-in hybrids, and CA$3,000 for conventional hybrids, with the rebate declining over time. The province planned to also subsidize the deployment of charging stations for taxis.
In October 2016, the National Assembly of Quebec passed a new zero emission vehicle legislation that obliges any carmaker who sells in the Canadian province more than 4,500 new vehicles per year over a three-year average, to offer their customers a minimum number of plug-in hybrid and all-electric models. Under the new law, 3.5% of the total number of autos sold by carmakers in Quebec have to be zero emissions vehicles (ZEV) starting in 2018, rising to 15.5% in 2020. A tradable credit system was created for those carmakers not fulfilling their quotas to avoid financial penalties. The quotas will be determined by Quebec's Ministry of Sustainable Development. Quebec became the first Canadian province to pass such legislation, joining ten U.S. states, including California, that have similar ZEV laws. Quebec aims to have 100,000 zero emission vehicles on the road by 2020. Initially, the provincial government set the goal in 2011 to have 300,000 plug-in vehicles on the roads by 2020.
The Government of British Columbia announced the LiveSmart BC program which will start offering rebates of up to CA$5,000 per eligible clean energy vehicle commencing on December 1, 2011. The incentives will be available until March 31, 2013 or until available funding is depleted, whichever comes first. Available funds are enough to provide incentives for approximately 1,370 vehicles. Battery electric vehicles, fuel cell vehicles and plug-in hybrids with battery capacity of 15.0 kWh and above are eligible for a CA$5,000 incentive. Also effective December 1, 2011, rebates of up to CA$500 per qualifying electric vehicle charging equipment will be available to B.C. residents who have purchased a clean energy vehicle.
China
The stock of new energy vehicles sold in China since 2011 passed the 500,000 unit milestone in March 2016, making the country the largest plug-in market in the world when all automotive segments are considered. Sales of domestically produced plug-in passenger cars achieved the 500,000 unit milestone in September 2016. Domestically produced cars account for 96% of new energy car sales in China. As of November 2016, China also has the world's largest fleet of light-duty plug-in electric vehicles, with about 600,000 plug-in cars. China overtook the U.S. and Europe in terms of annual sales of light-duty plug-in electric vehicles, both in calendar years 2015 and current-year-to-date through November.
The Chinese government adopted in 2009 a plan to leapfrog current automotive technology, and seize the growing new energy vehicle (NEV) market to become of the world leaders in manufacturing of all-electric and hybrid vehicles. The government's political support for the adoption of electric vehicles has four goals, to create a world-leading industry that would produce jobs and exports; energy security to reduce its oil dependence which comes from the Middle East; to reduce urban air pollution; and to reduce its carbon emissions. In June 2012 the State Council of the People's Republic of China published a plan to develop the domestic energy-saving and new energy vehicle industry. The plan set a sales target of 500,000 new energy vehicles by 2015 and 5 million by 2020. As sales were much lower than initially expected, and most of the deployed NEV stock has been purchased by the government for public fleets, new monetary incentives were issued in 2014, and the national government set a sales target of 160,000 units for 2014. Although the goal was not achieved, new energy vehicles sales in 2014 totaled 74,763 units, up 324% from 2013. The surge in demand continued in 2015, with a total of 331,092 NEVs sold in 2015, rising 343% year-on-year.
As of September 2016, cumulative sales of domestically produced highway legal new energy passenger cars totaled 521,649 units since 2005, excluding imports, representing 29.2% of the global light-duty plug-in stock. By the end of September 2016, China's stock of plug-in passenger cars reached the level of the American stock, and by November 2016, China’s cumulative total plug-in passenger vehicles sales had surpassed those of Europe, allowing China to become the market with the world's largest stock of light-duty plug-in vehicles. As of December 2016, sales of new energy passenger cars since 2010 totaled 632,371 units.
- Government incentives
The Chinese government uses the term new energy vehicles (NEVs) to designate plug-in electric vehicles, and only pure electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles are subject to purchase incentives. Initially, conventional hybrids were also included. On June 1, 2010, the Chinese government announced a trial program to provide incentives for new energy vehicles of up to 60,000 yuan (~US$9,281 in June 2011) for private purchase of new battery electric vehicles and 50,000 yuan (~US$7,634 in June 2011) for plug-in hybrids in five cities. The government set the goal to raise the country's annual production capacity to 500,000 plug-in hybrid or all-electric cars and buses by the end of 2011, up from 2,100 in 2008. A mid-September 2013 joint announcement by the National Development and Reform Commission and finance, science, and industry ministries confirmed that the central government will provide a maximum of US$9,800 toward the purchase of an all-electric passenger vehicle and up to US$81,600 for an electric bus. The subsidies are part of the government's efforts to address China's problematic air pollution.
In April 2016 the Traffic Management Bureau under the Ministry of Public Security announced the introduction of new green license plates to identify new energy vehicles, as opposed to the country's standard blue plates. The objective of the special plates is to facilite police enforcement of the preferential policies that some local authorities apply to cleaner cars to help cut emissions and ease traffic. For example, central Beijing has in place a road space rationing scheme, a driving restriction regulation that bans conventional vehicles from entering the city for one day a week, but new energy vehicles are exempted from the restriction.
- Sales
New energy vehicle sales in China totaled 951,447 units between January 2011 and December 2016. These figures include heavy-duty commercial vehicles such buses and sanitation trucks, and only accounts for vehicles manufactured in the country because imports are not subject to government subsidies. As of September 2016, the Chinese stock of plug-in electric vehicles consisted of about 540,000 all-electric vehicles (73.7%) and almost 193,000 plug-in hybrids (26.3%) sold since 2011. The country achieved record sales of 207,380 new energy passenger cars in 2015, allowing China to rank as the world's top selling plug-in passenger car country market in 2015, ahead of the United States, the leading market in 2014. A particular feature of the Chinese passenger plug-in market is the dominance of small entry level vehicles. In 2015, all-electric car sales in the mini and small segments (A-segment) represented 87% of total pure electric car sales, while 96% of total plug-in hybrid car sales were in the compact segment (C-segment). Sales of plug-in passenger cars achieved the 500,000 unit milestone in September 2016. Imported plug-in cars, such as Tesla Model S or BMW i3s are not included.
Over 160,000 heavy-duty new energy vehicles were sold between 2011 and 2015, of which, 123,710 (77.2%) were sold in 2015. Sales of commercial new energy vehicles in 2015 consisted of 100,763 all-electric vehicles (81.5%) and 22,947 plug-in hybrid vehicles (18.5%). The share of all-electric bus sales in the Chinese bus market climbed from 2% in 2010 to 9.9% in 2012, and was expected to be closed to 20% for 2013. As of December 2014, China had about 36,500 all-electric buses. The global stock of plug-in electric buses was estimated to be about 173,000 units as of December 2015, almost entirely deployed in China, the world's largest electric bus market. Of these, almost 150,000 were all-electric buses. The Chinese electric bus stock grew nearly sixfold between 2014 and 2015.
A total of 8,159 new energy vehicles were sold in China during 2011, including passenger cars (61%) and buses (28%). Of these, 5,579 units were all-electric vehicles and 2,580 plug-in hybrids. Electric vehicle sales represented 0.04% of total new car sales in 2011. Sales of new energy vehicles in 2012 reached 12,791 units, which includes 11,375 all-electric vehicles and 1,416 plug-in hybrids. New energy vehicle sales in 2012 represented 0.07% of the country's total new car sales. During 2013 new energy vehicle sales totaled 17,642 units, up 37.9% from 2012 and representing 0.08% of the nearly 22 million new car sold in the country in 2013. Deliveries included 14,604 pure electric vehicles and 3,038 plug-in hybrids. The top selling new energy car in China between 2011 and 2013 was the Chery QQ3 EV city car, with 2,167 units sold in 2011, 3,129 in 2012, and 5,727 in 2013.
New energy vehicle sales in China during 2014 totaled 74,763 units, consisting of 45,048 all-electric vehicles, and 29,715 plug-in hybrids. Of these, 71% were passenger cars, 27% buses, and 1% trucks. Pure electric vehicle sales increased 210% from 2013 while plug-in hybrid sales grew 880% from the previous year. The plug-in electric segment market share reached 0.32% of the 23.5 million new car sales sold in 2014. The BYD Qin ranked as the top selling plug-in electric car in China in 2014, with 14,747 units sold during the year, and became the country's top selling plug-in passenger car ever. The Qin was followed by the all-electrics Kandi EV with 14,398, Zotye Zhidou E20, with 7,341 units, and BAIC E150 EV with 5,234.
Domestically produced new energy vehicle sales in 2015 totaled a record 331,092 units, consisting of 247,482 all-electric vehicles and 83,610 plug-in hybrid vehicles, up 449% and 191% from 2014, respectively. Sales of plug-in passenger cars, excluding imports, totaled 176,627 units in 2015, allowing China to rank as the world's best-selling plug-in electric car country market in 2015. The plug-in electric passenger car segment market share rose to 0.84% in 2015, up from 0.25% in 2014. The top selling passenger models in 2015 were the BYD Qin plug-in hybrid with 31,898 units sold, followed by the BYD Tang (18,375), and the all-electrics Kandi EV (16,736), BAIC E150/160/200 EV (16,488), and the Zotye Z100 EV (15,467).
As of December 2015, with 31,898 units sold in 2015, the BYD Qin continued to rank as the all-time top selling plug-in passenger car in the country, with cumulative sales of 46,787 units since its introduction. The BYD Qin was the world's second best selling plug-in hybrid car in 2015 after the Mitsubishi Outlander P-HEV, and also ranked fifth among the world's top selling plug-in electric cars in 2015. BYD Auto ended 2015 as the world's best selling manufacturer of highway legal light-duty plug-in electric vehicles, with around 60,000 units sold, followed by Tesla Motors, with 50,580 units sold in 2015.
A total of about 289,000 new energy vehicles were sold during the first nine months of 2016, up 100.6% year-on-year, consisting of 216,000 pure electric vehicles, up 128.4% year-on-year, and 73,000 plug-in hybrid vehicles, up 47.2% from the same period the previous year. A total of 209,359 new energy passenger cars were sold in the first three quarters of 2016, up 122% year-on-year, consisting of about 145,000 all-electric cars, up 170% year-on-year, and about 65,000 plug-in hybrids, up 60% year-on-year. The plug-in segment market share totaled 1.08% of new car sales during the period.
Three BYD Auto models topped the Chinese ranking of best-selling new energy passenger cars in 2016. The BYD Tang plug-in hybrid SUV was the top selling plug-in car with 31,405 units delivered, followed by the BYD Qin (21,868) and the BYD e6 (20,605). As of December 2016, the BYD Qin, with 68,655 units sold since its inception, remains the all-time top selling plug-in electric car in the country. For a second year running BYD Auto was the world's top selling plug-in car manufacturer in 2016 with over 100,000 units delivered in China, ahead of Tesla Motors by about 30,000 units. However, in terms of sales revenue, Tesla ranked ahead with US$6.35 billion from its electric car sales in 2016, while BYD sales totaled US$3.88 billion from its electric car division.
The following table presents annual sales of the top selling new energy passenger cars by model with cumulative sales of about or over 3,000 units between 2011 and December 2015.
Chile
The Mitsubishi i-MiEV was launched in May 2011 at a price of CLP28,9 million (US$60,000). Initial availability was limited to 25 units. The first public quick charging station in the country was opened in April 2011 in preparation for the arrival of the first i-MiEV electric cars. As of August 2012, only 10 units have been sold.
In August 2014 Mitsubishi withdrew the i-Miev from the market due to its low sales volume and introduced the Outlander PHEV at a lower price of US$54,000. Later that year BMW introduced their "i" range with the i3 (US$55,000) and i8 (US$225,000) plug-in cars; while Renault launched their whole Zero Emission (Z.E.) lineup, including the Fluence Z.E. sedan, the Kangoo utility van and Zoe city car. The French brand sold 22 electric vehicles in their first month in the Chilean market.
Colombia
In 2013 the government established incentives to promote the adoption of plug-in electric vehicles. These include the exemption from the driving restriction scheme (Spanish: Pico y placa) in place in several Colombian cities such as Bogotá and MedellÃn. Also the government exempted all-electric and plug-in hybrid cars from import duties for three years, but limited to an annual quota of 750 plug-in cars of each type. All-electric vehicles are exempted 100% if the vehicle's "Free On Board" (FOB) value is less than US$52,000, while plug-ins with an internal combustion engine of less than 3 liters, the import duty was reduced to 5%.
The first South American all-electric taxi fleet made up of BYD e6 was launched at the beginning of 2013 in Bogotá, the capital city of Colombia after receiving operation approval by the Colombia Ministry of Transportation. These taxis are exempted from the driving restriction scheme. The program is an effort to improve the local air quality and set an example to other cities in the country. In September 2013 a total of 45 e6 taxis of this pilot program were delivered. The e6 fleet are part of Colombia's "BIOTAXIS Project." Another three BYD e6s were sent to Colceincias, Bogota's Tech, Science and Innovation Administration.
The BMW i3 was introduced in Colombia in late 2014 with pricing starting at COP$154.9 million (~US$49,000). As of June 2015, i3 sales totaled 25 units. The all-electric Renault Twizy quadracycle was introduced in the Colombian market in June 2015, at a price starting at COP$40 million (~US$12,650). Sales of the Mitsubishi Outlander P-HEV were scheduled to begin in September 2015.
Retail sales during 2014 totaled 52 pure electric cars and four plug-in hybrids. Lower sales than expected are the result of lack of charging infrastructure and the relatively high price of plug-in vehicles despite the reduced import duties. In addition to the charging stations used for the electric taxi fleet, there is only one public charging point in Bogotá. As of June 2015, a totalof 126 plug-in electric vehicles have been sold in the country, mostly to corporate customers, and consisting of 43 BYD e6s (taxis), 35 Mitsubishi i-MiEVs, 25 BMW i3s, 19 Renault Twizys, and four Nissan Leafs. A total of 203 Twizys had been sold as of October 2015, of which, 114 were sold in October, capturing a 0.1% market share of new car sales, and placing Colombia at the forefront of electric vehicle market in Latin America, along with Costa Rica.
Costa Rica
As of January 2015, the Costa Rican stock of electric drive vehicles consisted of 477 hybrid electric vehicles and 2,229 plug-in electric vehicles, including passenger cars, buses, motorcycles, quadricycles and electric bicycles. With a registered fleet of 1,399,082 units at the end of 2014, electric vehicles represent a 0.16% share of the Costa Rican stock of motor vehicles. Costa Rica is considered the leading country in electric vehicle adoption in Latin America.
The first electric car to go on sale in the country was the REVAi, introduced in March 2009. The REVAi, powered by leadâ€"acid batteries, sold 10 units during its first month in the market, 5 by corporate clients and 5 by individual customers. The Mitsubishi i MiEV was launched in February 2011, with initial availability limited to 25 to 50 units. According to Mitsubishi, Costa Rica was selected at the first market launch in the Americas due to its environmental record, despite the lack of government incentives for purchasing electric cars.
As of February 2012, only a total of 61 all-electric cars had been registered in the country, with 31 purchased by individual customers, and 30 sold to embassies, universities, and corporate clients. Lack of charging infrastructure, there are no public charging stations in the country, and the need to introduce government incentives to reduce purchase taxes, were cited as the main causes for the low volume sales. Nissan signed an agreement with the Costa Rican government in February 2012 to implement a pilot program as part of the introduction of the Nissan Leaf in the country. A task force was created through the agreement to assess the infrastructure requirements for the deployment of electric cars and the definition necessary government incentives for consumers to purchase electric cars. Nissan planned to start Leaf sales by late 2013.
In January 2013 BYD Auto signed an agreement with the Costa Rican Ministry of Environment and Energy to deploy 200 BYD e6 electric cars for use as "green taxis." The electric cars will be exempt from import duties and the government has agreed to deploy charging stations in strategic locations in the city of San José. Retail sales of the BYD Qin plug-in hybrid began in Costa Rica in November. Retail sales of the Mitsubishi Outlander P-HEV began in March 2015. The BMW i3 was released in the Costa Rican market in September 2016. Pricing of the i3 94 A·h starts at US$67,500, since the bill to eliminate import duties and other taxes is still pending approval in Congress.
Plug-in car sales totaled 108 units in 2016, representing a market share of 0.2%, the highest among Latin American countries. The top selling models were The Mitsubishi Outlander P-HEV with 60 units, the BMW i3 with 22, and the BMW X5 eDrive with 15.
- Government incentives
Initially, the only existing fiscal incentive for the purchase of electric vehicles was the exemption from the consumption tax implemented in 2006, while conventional vehicles pay a 30% rate. A bill introduced in 2010 to reduce purchase and import duty taxes did not move forward in the Legislative Assembly. Since October 2012, electric cars are exempted from the driving restriction implemented by plate number to restrict access to downtown San José, the country's capital.
In October 2015 a new bill was introduced into the Legislative Assembly, called, "Incentives and Promotion of the Electric Transport", which would eliminate all taxation on all-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles including import duties, consumption tax, and sales tax, which would result in a 44% reduction of the current retail price. The bill also proposes free parking at parking meters for electric vehicles, free designated parking at private and public facilities, and a five-year exemption from the annual road tax. The bill set a cap of 100,000 units to benefit from the law and the benefits would be in place for five-years, whichever comes first. Vehicles eligible for the tax exemptions includes passenger cars, passenger vans, motorcycles, buses and trains.
The bill also promotes the development of charging infrastructure with goal to provide charging points every 80Â km (50Â mi) on national highways and every 120Â km (75Â mi) on the municipal road network. The proposed law also mandates all government agencies to replace 10% of their auto fleets with plug-in electric vehicles; and public transportation and taxi services are mandated to slowly replace their fleets with electric vehicles, with a minimum of 10% of plug-in electric cars for new taxi cab medallions ("ecotaxis"). In addition, the law would provide income tax incentives for corporations that replace with plug-ins at least 10% of their fleets, with a minimum of three company cars.
Croatia
As of October 2016, there were 749 electric cars registered in Croatia. There are 129 public charging stations in the country. In 2014 and 2015, the Croatian government subsidized the purchase of electric cars with HRK 70,000 (c. €9300) for a fully electric vehicle, HRK 50,000 (c. €6600) for a plug-in hybrid, and HRK 30,000 (c. €4000) for other hybrid vehicles.
A small city car called XD assembled by Croatian company DOK-ING. The name XD comes from oddly shaped rear lights ("X" shaped) and "D" beginning letter of the company's name. The XD can travel over 250 km on a single charge with Lithium-ion batteries. Car's base-cost will be only €10,000. Serial production is predicted to start mid-2012.
Denmark
As of December 2015, there were around 4,000 electric cars in Denmark. Denmark is the second largest European market for light-duty plug-in electric commercial vehicles or utility vans, with over 2,600 plug-in electric vans sold in 2015, representing an 8.5% market share of all vans sold in the country. Most of the van sold in the Danish market are plug-in hybrids, accounting for almost all of the plug-in hybrid van sales across the European Union. As of 2014, the country generated about a third of its electric power from wind energy, but some of it is exported to hydropower storage in Norway and elsewhere because there is currently no way for utilities to store the excess power inside Denmark.
Better Place partnered with Denmark's leading energy company, Dong Energy, in a €103 million (770 million Danish Kroner) investment to introduce electric cars and infrastructure to Denmark. With the Better Place model, Dong hoped to leverage the existing electric grid and electric vehicle batteries to harness and store the abundance of wind-generated power and distribute appropriately for transportation consumption. The network commercial launch was scheduled for late 2011.
The first battery switch station in Denmark, out of 20 planned to be deployed across the country until March 2012 as part of the network of charging infrastructure, was unveiled in June 2011 at Gladsaxe, near Copenhagen. Sales of the Renault Fluence Z.E., the electric car selected for the network, began in late 2011, and 234 units were sold in Denmark between 2012 and April 2013. As of December 2012 there were 17 battery swapping stations fully operational in the country enabling Danish customers to drive anywhere across the country in an electric car. On 26 May 2013, and following the decision of the Board of Directors of Better Place's global company, Better Place Danmark A/S decided to begin bankruptcy proceedings. Some of these stations were converted to hydrogen-producing fuel stations for hydrogen cars such as the Toyota Mirai.
A taxi demonstration project in Copenhagen, including three Fluences and a Nissan Leaf, began in May 2013 scheduled to run through the second quarter of 2015. The demonstration was supported with a 12.5 million kroner government grant.
Estonia
As of February 2015, a total of 1,188 plug-in electric vehicles were registered in Estonia. As of December 2013, there were 757 all-electric cars registered in Estonia, up from 619 pure electric cars registered through 2012. With a total of 506 pure electric cars during 2012, Estonia ranked second after Norway in terms of EV penetration of the total auto fleet, with 1 electric car for every 1,000 registered cars. However, the market share of the all-electric car segment dropped from 2.39% in 2012 to 0.69% in 2013, as registrations decreased to 138 units in 2013. The top selling electric car in 2013 was the Nissan Leaf with 95 units sold. In the year 2015, the number of electric cars sold in Estonia was 34. The figure is low compared to other advanced economies in the EU, and low sales are atrributed to lack of government subsidies after the carbon credit scheme was depleted.
Estonia is the first country that completed the deployment of an EV charging network with nationwide coverage, with fast chargers available along highways at a minimum distance between 40 to 60Â km (25 to 37Â mi). As of December 2012, the nationwide network consisted of 165 fast chargers fully financed by the Estonian government, with a separation on highways of no more than 60Â km (37Â mi) with a higher density on urban areas. These public fast chargers are dual units, with a 50 kW CHAdeMO port and a 22Â kW AC plug.
- Carbon credits exchange
On March 3, 2011, the government of Estonia confirmed the sale to Mitsubishi Corporation of 10 million carbon dioxide credits in exchange for 507 i-MiEV electric cars. The deal also included funding to build 250 fast charging stations in larger towns and main highways by 2013, and subsidies for the first 500 private buyers of any electric car approved by the European Union. The first 50 i-MiEVs were delivered in October 2011 and this official fleet was assigned for use by municipal social workers. During the first round of allocations of the electric cars, municipalities requested only 336 of the 507 i-MiEVs available. Several local authorities stated concerns about the electric car performance during harsh winter conditions, maintenance costs and the i-MiEV' reliability on difficult countryside roads.
Finland
As of October 2016, there were about 2,250 plug-in electric cars on Finish roads. Registrations in 2015 totaled 658 plug-in cars, up from 445 in 2014. During the first three quarters of 2016 plug-in electric car registrations totaled 1,017 units, consisting of 163 pure electric cars and 854 plug-in hybrids. Plug-in electric car sales have been slow primarily due to the limited range of pure electric cars and the high purchase prices of plug-in models in general.
In November 2016, the government set the goal to have 250,000 plug-in electric cars and 50,000 biogas cars on the road by 2030. To achieve this goal the government is considering to earmark €100 million in subsidies for electric and biogas cars between 2017 and 2020. The transport ministry is considering two options, a €4,000 purchase subsidy available for the first 25,000 emissions-free cars sold, or to overhaul automotive taxes to encourage people to buy clean cars. These goals are part of the Finnish government efforts to meet Finland's climate commitments under the 2015 Paris Agreement.
Electric cars are also present in Finland, with companies such as Valmet Automotive (Fisker Karma and Garia A/S electric golf cart production) and also agreement of Think City car production, Fortum (concept cars and infrastructure), Kabus (hybrid buses; part of Koiviston Auto Oy), BRP Finland (part of Bombardier Recreational Products), Lynx (snowmobile), Patria (military vehicles), European Batteries (Li-ion battery plant in Varkaus), Finnish Electric Vehicles (battery control systems), ABB, Efore, Vacon (electric motor technology production), Ensto (production of charging units), Elcat (electric vehicle production since the 1980s), production of electric car accessories, Suomen Sähköauto Oy (produces small electric cars), Oy AMC Motors Ltd. (produces and designs small electric cars), Raceabout (specialist electric sport car with very few sales), Gemoto skooters from Cabotec, Resonate's Gemini and Janus Scooters, Moto Bella Oy, Axcomotors, Randax, Visedo.
Research related to electric cars is in progress at the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and Tekes.
- Electric Motor Show
Sharing knowledge is also in progress: in Helsinki the Electric Motor Show was held from 10 to 12 September 2010. The show will feature only cars, motorcycles, scooters, mopeds and microcars and components for them. Year 2010 is second year for Helsinki Electric motor show. The plan is to hold the show annually.
- Infrastructure
Basic charging infrastructure is already available all over Finland, used for engine pre-warming in the cold winters. Because of its climate â€" cold winters and warm summers â€" Finland is considered a convenient "test laboratory" for electric cars and many companies have made field tests in Finland. It has been said in Autobild 08/09 magazine that Fortum is developing the high-speed charging system. With a new kind of three-phase charging method electric cars can be charged in four minutes. A commercial product should be ready by 2011.
There are also mines and metal refineries for lithium alloy in Finland. At the moment there are several mining projects under way such as the Keliber project.
- Support organizations
There are several electric car organisations in Finland, such as the Electric Vehicle Association of Finland and Electric Vehicles Finland.
- Electric Cars - Now!
There is also a non-commercial electric car conversion organisation called Electric Cars - Now! that converts standard Toyota Corollas into Li-ion battery-powered electric cars. As of August 2009, more than 1,700 pre-orders for conversion Toyotas have been placed. The speciality in the Electric Cars - Now! project is that it is an open source project: anyone can start similar production anywhere they want, the benefits for the customer being open-source spare part coding and so on. The ideas and design are freely available from the Electric Cars - Now! organisation.
France
As of December 2016, a total of 108,065 light-duty plug-in electric vehicles have been registered in France, making the country the third largest European plug-in country market and the sixth largest in the world. As of September 2016, and accounting for registrations since 2010, the plug-in electric stock consisted of 61,686 all-electric passenger cars, 24,696 all-electric utility vans, and 12,857 plug-in hybrids. As of December 2015, France ranked as the country with the world's largest market for light-duty electric commercial vehicles or utility vans. Nearly half of the vans sold in the European Union are sold in the country as a result of a national purchase incentive scheme, which French companies have embraced. The market share of all-electric utility vans reached a market share of 1.22% of new vans registered in 2014, and 1.30% in 2015.
All-electric car registrations increased from 184 units in 2010 to 2,630 in 2011. Sales in 2012 increased 115% from 2011 to 5,663 electric cars, making France the world's fourth largest all-electric country market in 2012. Registrations reached 8,779 electric cars in 2013, up 55.0% from 2012, and the all-electric market share of total new car sales went up to 0.49% from 0.3% in 2012. In addition, 5,175 electric utility vans were registered in 2013, up 42% from 2012, representing a market share of 1.4% of all new light commercial vehicles sold in 2013. Sales of all-electric passenger cars and utility vans totaled 13,954 units in 2013, France was the leading European light-duty all-electric market in 2012 and 2013.
All-electric car sales in the French market for 2011 were led by the Citroën C-Zero with 645 units followed by the Peugeot iOns with 639 vehicles. During 2012, all-electric car registrations in France were led by the Bolloré Bluecar with 1,543 units. The Renault Kangoo Z.E. was the top selling utility electric vehicle with 2,869 units registered in 2012, capturing 82% of the segment sales. Registrations of pure electric cars in 2013 were led by the Renault Zoe with 5,511 units representing 62.8% of total pure electric car sales. Registrations of all-electric light utility vehicles were led by the Renault Kangoo Z.E. with 4,174 units, representing 80.7% of the segment sales. Registrations of plug-in hybrids in 2012 were led by the Toyota Prius PHV with 413 units. During 2013 the Prius PHEV continuing as the plug-in hybrid segment leader with 393 units registered. When plug-in hybrids sales in 2013 are accounted for, a total of 14,762 plug-in electric vehicles were registered in France in 2013, making the country the second largest plug-in market in Europe after the Netherlands.
A total of 15,045 all-electric cars and vans were registered in 2014, up 7.8% from 2013. Registrations of all-electric cars in 2014 passed the 10,000 unit mark for the first time (10,560). This figure does not include BMW i3 with range extender. All-electric utility vans continued to be a significant share of the all-electric segment, with 4,485 units registered in 2014. All-electric cars captured a 0.59% market share, while light-duty electric vehicles reached a 1.22% market share of their segment. The slow down in sales during the first half of 2014, allowed Norway to end 2014 as the top selling European market in the all-electric segment, with France ranking second. The Zoe continued leading plug-in electric vehicle registrations in 2014, with 5,970 units registered, followed by the Kangoo Z.E. van with 2,657 registrations.
Plug-in hybrid car registrations totaled 1,527 units in 2014, almost doubling registrations from a year earlier. Plug-in hybrid sales were driven by the Mitsubishi Outlander P-HEV, with 820 units registered in 2014, representing 54% of the segment registrations in 2014. Between 2012 and 2014, cumulative plug-in hybrid registrations reached 2,985 units, rising cumulative French registrations of plug-in electric vehicles since 2005 to 46,590 units, just ahead of the Netherlands (45,020), and making France the European country where there were more plug-in electric vehicles on the road as of December 2014.
A total of 27,701 light-duty electric vehicles were registered in France in 2015, consisting of 17,779 all-electric cars, 4,916 electric vans, and 5,006 plug-in hybrid cars. All-electric cars captured a 0.9% market share of new passenger car registrations in 2015, and the entire plug-in passenger car market achieved a market share of 1.17%. All-electric car registrations in 2015 continued to be led by the Renault Zoe (10,406), the electric utility van segment was led by the Kangoo Z.E. (2,836), and the plug-in hybrid segment was led by the Volkswagen Golf GTE (1,687). A total of 33,774 light-duty electric vehicles were registered in France in 2016, making the country the third largest in Europe in 2016 after Norway and the UK. France was the top selling European market in the light-duty all-electric segment with 27,307 units registered, up 23% from 2015. During the first three quarters of 2016, registrations consisted of 16,091 all-electric cars, 3,991 electric vans, and 4,858 plug-in hybrid cars. The Renault Zoe continued as the top selling plug-in electric car with 8,163 units during this period. The plug-in passenger car market achieved a market share of 1.57% of new car sales during the first nine months of 2016. As of September 2016, the Renault Zoe is the all-time best-selling plug-in electric vehicle in the French market with 30,098 units registered since 2012. Ranking second is the Kangoo Z.E. utility van with 15,032 units registered since 2010. As of September 2016, the all-time top selling plug-in hybrid is the Volkswagen Golf GTE with about 2,500 units, followed by the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV with almost 2,000 registered. The stock of light-duty plug-in electric vehicles registered in France passed the 100,000 unit milestone in October 2016.
The following table presents registrations of the top selling light-duty highway-capable electric vehicles by type (all electric cars and vans, and plug-in hybrids) with detailed all-electric car registrations by model between 2010 and December 2015.
- Government incentives
Since 2008 France has a bonus-malus system offering a financial incentive, or bonus, for the purchase of cars with low carbon emissions, and a penalty fee, or malus, for the purchase of high-emission vehicles. The fee schedule is updated each year. From April 1, 2015, the French government introduced a super-bonus, increasing the financial incentive to a cumulative total of €10,000, consisting of the regular bonus of €6300 for purchasing a pure electric car, plus up to €3700 for customers scrapping a diesel-powered car in circulation before 1 January 2001. In the case of plug-in hybrids with CO2 emission levels between 21 and 60 g/km, the purchase bonus was €4000 plus the scrapping premium of €3700.
Effective January 4, 2016, the €6300 purchase bonus, limited to 27% of the purchase price, for vehicles emitting up to 20 g/km was maintained. This bonus corresponds to pure electric vehicles and those equipped with a range extender. Vehicles emitting between 21 and 60 g/km are entitled to a €1000 bonus. This bonus corresponds to the majority of plug-in hybrids. The €10000 super-bonus for the purchase or lease of a new all-electric car was maintained. The scrappage bonus for the purchase of pure electric cars was maintained at €3700, while the bonus for plug-in hybrid car emitting between 21 and 60 g/km was set at €2500. As of September 2016, the scrappage bonus of €3700 for trading in old diesel-powered cars has been granted to more than 10,000 purchase transactions.
Germany
As of September 2016, a total of 66,674 plug-in electric cars have been registered in Germany since 2010. The country is the largest passenger car market in Europe, however ranks as the fifth largest plug-in market in Europe as of September 2016. About 80% of the plug-in cars registered in the country through September 2016 were registered since January 2014. The official German definition of electric vehicles changed at the beginning of 2013, before that, official statistics only registered all-electric vehicles because plug-in hybrids were accounted together with conventional hybrids. As a result, the registrations figures for 2012 and older do not account for total new plug-in electric car registrations. As of November 2014, the country had 4,800 public charging stations.
The fleet of electric car registered in the country increased from 1,558 units in 2009 to 2,307 in 2010. The electric car stock in 2011 increased 96.8% from 2010 to 4,541 units registered, and up 56.7% from 2011 to 7,114 units in 2012, reaching 12,156 registered cars on 1 January 2014. At the beginning of 2014 registrations of plug-in electric vehicles represented a 0.028% market share of all passenger vehicles registered in Germany. The plug-in hybrid segment in the German market in 2014 experienced an explosive growth of 226.9% year-over-year, and the overall plug-in segment increased 75.5% from a year earlier. The surge in sales continued in 2015, the plug-in hybrid segment grew 125.1% year-over-year, while the all-electric segment climbed 91.2% from the previous year.
During 2011, a total of 2,154 pure electric cars were registered in the country, up from 541 units in 2010. All-electric car sales for 2011 were led by the Mitsubishi i-MiEV family representing 50.6% of all electric car registrations in 2011. Plug-in hybrid registrations totaled 266 units in 2011, led by the Opel Ampera (241), for a total of 2,420 plug-in electric vehicles registered in 2011. A total of 2,956 all-electric vehicles were registered in Germany during 2012, a 37.2% increase over 2011. When 901 registered plug-in hybrids are accounted for, 2012 registrations climb to 3,857 units, and sales of plug-in electric car represented a 0.12% market share of new passenger vehicles sold in the country in 2012. Registrations of plug-in electric vehicles were led by the Opel Ampera extended-range electric car with 828 units, followed by the Smart electric drive with 734 units. In addition, a total of 2,413 Renault Twizys were sold during 2012, making Germany the top selling European market for the electric quadricycle.
A total of 7,436 new plug-in electric cars were registered in Germany in 2013, consisting of 6,051 all-electric cars and 1,385 plug-in hybrids. Total registrations at the end of 2013 reached 12,156 units. The Smart electric drive led new plug-in car registrations in 2013 with 2,146 units, followed by Renault Zoe with 1,019. Registrations of plug-in electric cars totaled 13,049 units in 2014, consisting of 8,522 all-electric cars and 4,527 plug-in hybrids. The plug-in segment achieved a market share of 0.4% of new car sales that year. The BMW i3 ended 2014 as the top selling plug-in electric car with 2,233 units registered.
Plug-in hybrid registrations totaled 11,101 units in 2015, up 145% from 2014, and all-electric cars totaled 12,363 units registered, up 45% from 2014. Combined sales of the two segments totaled 23,464 units. The plug-in segment achieved a market share of 0.7% of new car sales that year, up from 0.4% in 2014. The German monthly plug-in market share passed the 1% mark for the first time ever in December 2015, with an all-time record market share of 1.28% of new car registrations that month. Also, with 3,176 plug-in cars registered in December 2015, the German market achieved the highest monthly sales volume ever. The top selling models in 2015 were the Kia Soul EV (3,839), followed by the BMW i3 (2,271), and the Mitsubishi Outlander P-HEV (2,128).
During the first three quarters of 2016, sales of plug-in hybrids surpassed sales of all-electric cars for the first time in the country. A total of 17,074 units were registered, consisting of 7,678 all-electric cars and 9,396 plug-in hybrids. The plug-in segment achieved a market share of 0.7% of new car sales. The top selling models during the first eight months of 2016 were the Renault Zoe (1,836), BMW i3 (1,237), Tesla Model S (978), Audi A3 e-tron (908), and Volkswagen Golf GTE (852). The introduction of the purchase bonus did not produce immediate effect on plug-in car sales until September 2016, when registrations peaked to 3,061 units, consisting of 1,641 all-electric cars, up 76.6% year-on-year, and 1,420 plug-in hybrids, up 36.8% year-on-year. Combined registrations of both type of plug-in accounted for 1.1% of new car registrations, allowing the German plug-in market share to pass the 1% mark for the first time during 2016.
- Government incentives
Under its National Plattform for Electric Mobility, Chancellor Angela Merkel set in 2010 the goal to bring one million electric vehicles on German roads by 2020. Initially, the government also announced that it would not provide subsidies to the sales of plug-in electric cars but instead it would only fund research in the area of electric mobility. The Bundestag passed the Electric Mobility Act in March 2015 authorizing local government to grant non-monetary incentives, which are not mandatory. The benefits include measures to privilege battery-powered cars, fuel cell vehicles and some plug-in hybrids, just like Norway does, by granting local governments the authority to allow these vehicles into bus lanes, and to offer free parking and reserved parking spaces in locations with charging points. The law also provides issuing special license plates for electric vehicles to allow proper identification to avoid abuses of these privileges.
According to the fourth progress report of the German National Platform for Electric Mobility, only about 24,000 plug-in electric cars are on German roads by the end of November 2014, well behind the target of 100,000 unit goal set for 2014. As a result, Chancellor Angela Merkel recognized in December 2014 that the government has to provide more incentives to meet the goal of having one million electric cars on the country's roads by 2020. At the beginning of 2016, German politicians from the three parties in Mrs. Merkel's ruling coalition and auto executives began talks to introduce a subsidy for green car buyersto boost sales of electric and plug-in hybrid cars.
An incentive scheme to promote plug-in electric vehicle adoption was approved in April 2016 with a budget of €1 billion (US$1.13 billion). A total of €600 million (US$678 million) is reserved for the purchase subsidies, which are expected to run until all the money is disbursed, estimated to last until 2019 at the latest. Another €300 million (US$339 million) are budgeted to finance the deployment of charging stations in cities and on autobahn highway stops. And another €100 million (US$113 million) would go toward purchasing electric cars for federal government fleets. The program is aimed to promote the sale of 400,000 electric vehicles. The cost of the purchase incentive is shared equally between the government and automakers. Electric car buyers get a €4000 (US$4,520) discount while buyers of plug-in hybrid vehicles get a discount of €3000 (US$3,390). Premium cars, such as the Tesla Model S and BMW i8, are not eligible to the incentive because there is a cap of €60,000 (US$67,800) for the purchase price. Only electric vehicles purchased after 18 May 2016 are eligible for the bonus and the owner must keep the new electric car at least nine months. The same rule applies for leasing.
As of September 2016, BMW, Citroën, Daimler, Ford, Hyundai, Kia, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Peugeot, Renault, Toyota, Volkswagen, and Volvo had signed up to participate in the scheme. The online application system to claim the bonus went into effect on 2 July 2016. As of September 2016, a total of 26 plug-in electric cars and vans are eligible for the purchase bonus. According to the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (BAFA), a total of 4,451 applications have been made for the government subsidy for the purchase of a plug-in electric model as of 30 September 2016, consisting of 2,650 all-electrics and 1,801 plug-in hybrids.
Hong Kong
As of September 2016, there were 6,298 plug-in electric vehicles on the roads in Hong Kong, up from 3,253 in October 2015, and from less than 100 units in 2010. As of September 2016, plug-in cars represented 1.1% of Hong Kong's total car registered stock of 579,104 units. The plug-in segment market share achieved 4.8% of new car sales in Hong Kong in 2015.
As of October 2015, there have been deployed more than 1,200 electric vehicle charging points available for public use. By the end of June 2015 there were about two electric cars per public charging stall. As of October 2015, the Transport Department (TD) had approved 49 EV models, including 34 all-electric cars and motorcycles, and 15 models for public transport and commercial vehicles. Popular passenger and light-duty van models available for retail sales include the BMW i3, BYD e6, Mitsubishi i-MiEV, Mitsubishi Minicab MiEV, Nissan Leaf, Nissan e-NV200, Renault Fluence Z.E., Renault Kangoo Z.E., Renault Zoe, Smart ED, Tesla Model S, Tesla Roadster, and Volkswagen e-Golf. During the first quarter of 2015 Hong Kong had world's third largest EV market share, with 2.3% of new vehicle registrations during this quarter. Only Norway and the Netherlands had a larger EV share.
The Government of Hong Kong has been promoting the use of electric vehicles through several measures. First Registration Tax for EVs is waived until the end of March 2017. In addition, enterprises which procure EVs are allowed 100% profits tax deduction for the capital expenditure on EVs in the first year of procurement. A HK$300 million Pilot Green Transport Fund was put in place since March 2011 for application by transport operators and non-profit-making organizations providing services to their clients and goods vehicle owners, encouraging them to try out innovative green and low carbon transport technologies (including EVs). The ultimate policy objective of the Government is to have zero emission buses running across the territory. To this end, the Government allocated HK$180 million for franchised bus companies to purchase 36 single-deck electric buses for trial runs to assess their operational efficiency and performance under the local conditions. The trial is expected to commence progressively by end of 2015.
Sales of electric cars took off in Hong Kong after the introduction of the Tesla Model S in July 2014, and one year later, the Model S is the top selling all-electric car in the territory with about 70% of the registered stock of EVs (about 1,720 units). Model S sales gained traction thanks to the tax waiver, which makes the Model S price very competitive in the luxury car segment, about half the price of other high-end models. According to Tesla, as of September 2016, Hong Kong has the world's highest density of Tesla superchargers, with twelve stations comprising a total of 52 supercharger stalls. This infrastructure allows most Model S owners to have a supercharger within 20 minutes’ drive.
Hungary
In 2013, there were only 41 plug-in electric cars registered in Hungary. Noticing the rapid development of the electric car industry, the Hungarian government introduced its e-mobility plan named after Hungarian scientist Ãnyos Jedlik in March, 2014. The Jedlik plan aims to enhance the spread of the technology by supporting the domestic production of electric vehicles, expanding the necessary infrasturcture and promoting the purchase of PEVs with public incentives. Such incentive is a governmental contribution of maximum 1,5 million HUF to the buy of an electric vehicle, which was initiated in the end of 2016. In November, 2016, there were 1 473 PEVs registered in Hungary. The Jedlik plan expects this number to reach 63 000 by the end of 2020.
Iceland
The group 2012 - New beginning in Iceland was planning to convert all vehicles in the country to electric by 2012, the first to do so. As of 2012 this has not happened.
During 2013 a total of 72 plug-in electric cars were sold in Iceland representing a 0.94% market share of new car sales during the year. The Nissan Leaf led sales with 29 units sold in 2013, followed by the Mitsubishi i-MiEV and Prius PHEV with 13 registrations each, Tesla Model S with 8, Chevrolet Volt 4, Citroen C-Zero 3 and Opel Ampera 2 units.
India
The stock of the plug-in electric cars in the country climbed from 530 units in 2009 to over 3,100 in 2013, and as of December 2015, there were over 6,000 plug-in electric cars registered in India, consisting of 4,350 all-electric cars and 1,660 plug-in hybrids.
The Mahindra Reva e2o electric car was introduced in India in March 2013. It operates on lithium ion battery with 100Â km range for 4 hours of charging. In addition to this, there are several other companies involved in making electric bikes like Hero and Ampere.
The Indian government admitted that it has not implemented schemes/policy initiatives to encourage the adoption of electric vehicles. This information was given on December 2, 2014 by Minister of State in the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises G. M. Siddeshwara in a written reply to Lok Sabha question. But the Minister also admitted that the scheme is only on paper and no policy initiative has been undertaken to encourage the adoption of electric vehicles in India. The Minister said in his reply that a Scheme for Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric and Hybrid Vehicles in India, under the National Electric Mobility Mission 2020 has been proposed. The scheme envisages to encourage progressive induction of reliable, affordable and efficient electric and hybrid vehicles (xEV) in the country that meet consumer performance and price expectations, through Government-Industry collaboration for promotion and development of indigenous manufacturing capabilities, required infrastructure, consumer awareness and technology; thereby helping India to emerge as a leader in the xEV Two Wheeler and Four Wheeler market in the world by 2020. The Mission aims at providing a clean transportation system to the people that is not dependent on gasoline based fossil fuel, he said.
In 2016, a new car, the Mahindra e-Verito, was launched by Mahindra introducing the sedan class electric vehicle at a cost of 9 to 10 lakh Indian rupees ex showroom.
NEMMP 2020 target: 2W - 5 million vehicles, 3W - 30,000, 4W - 1 million vehicles, LCV - 50,000, Buses - 30,000 = Total 6 to 7 million vehicles
Israel
Israel was the first nation in the world that partnered with Better Place to have an electric car infrastructure.Shai Agassi, former CEO of Better Place claimed that in Israel by 2016, plus or minus a year, more than 50% of cars sold will be electric. Better place reached agreements with Renault-Nissan and the Israeli government to begin the first phases of the company's efforts to deploy the world's first integrated electric car network. Israel was considered a viable site for this innovative endeavor due to the country's relatively small size and the fact that approximately 90% of the nation's car owners drive less than 40Â mi (60Â km) a day. Israel enacted policies to create a tax differential between zero-emission vehicles and traditional cars, to accelerate the transition to electric cars.
Better Place designed an infrastructure consisting of 500,000 charging stations and almost 200 battery-exchange stations. In December 2008, Better Place revealed its first plug-in parking lot in Tel Aviv. Additionally, in May 2009, the company unveiled its patented battery swap system, which is designed for drivers taking longer road trips who lack the time needed to recharge their own battery. The first battery-swapping station in Israel, in Kiryat Ekron, near Rehovot, was deployed in March 2011. The station was the first of approximately 40 planned stations to begin operating in the near term. The battery exchange process took five minutes. The company also erected over 1,000 functional charging spots for the cars. Orders for the Renault Fluence ZE, the car selected for the Better Place network, began in July 2011.
The first deliveries of the Renault Fluence Z.E. took place on the 22nd of January 2012 and around 100 electric cars were allocated among Better Place employees. Retail customer deliveries began in the second quarter of 2012. As of mid September 2012, there were 21 operational battery-swap stations open to the public in Israel. In October 2012, Better Place signed a deal with Elco to supply 125 Renault Fluence ZEs through 2012 and 2013. As of December 2012, a total of 518 cars had been sold in the country, and during the first four months of 2013, 422 units were sold, bringing the total to 940.
Better Place filed for bankruptcy in Israel in May 2013. The company's financial difficulties were caused by the high investment required to develop the charging and swapping infrastructure, about US$850 million in private capital, and a market penetration significantly lower than originally predicted by Shai Agassi. Under Better Place's business model, the company owns the Fluence Z.E. batteries, so the court liquidator will have to decide what to do with customers who do not have ownership of the battery and risk being left with a useless car.
Ireland
In November 2008, the Department of Transport announced the Electric Transport Plan which calls for 10% of all vehicles to be electric by 2020. Government officials reached agreements with French car maker Renault and its Japanese partner Nissan to boost the use of electric cars. Eamon Ryan Ireland's former Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources repeatedly emphasised the importance of the electric car within the Irish context. The Electricity Supply Board has actively supported this call and sees electric vehicles as a key part of its strategy with regard to wind power in the Republic of Ireland. Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI) is currently looking at a number of pilot projects. More information on incentives was expected to come to light in the 2010 Irish Budget.
The Irish government has committed to getting enough electric passenger vehicles on the road by 2020 to account for 10% of all vehicles (a projected 230,000 electric vehicles). As of September 2014, plug-in electric car purchasers are eligible for a government credit worth up to €5,000 (about US$6,500). Vehicle Registration Tax (VRT), up to €5,000 is also waived for electric cars. Also, all-electric car owners pay the lowest rate of annual road tax, which is based on emissions. In addition, the first 2,000 electric cars registered in Ireland are eligible for installation of a free home-charging points worth about €1,000 (about US$1,300). Sales of all-electric cars in Ireland increased more than four times in 2014, with 222 units sold, up from 51 sold in 2013. The number of electric cars owned by individuals totaled about 500 by mid-2014.
Italy
The stock of the plug-in electric cars in the country increased from 530 (all-electric cars) in 2005 to 640 in 2010, to about 2,470 in 2013, and as of December 2015, there were over 6,100 plug-in electric cars registered in Italy, consisting of 4,580 all-electric cars and 1,550 plug-in hybrids. The first 150 plug-in hybrids were registered in the country in 2012.
Despite being a G8 country, in 2015 sales of electric vehicles in Italy still amounted to a modest 0.1% of the total car sales in the country. This is mainly due to a lack of commitment by the government (incentives have been discontinued in 2014), a limited public charging infrastructure and timid reception by the public, which still considers BEVs too expensive and unsuitable. Further, many Italian houses are still equipped with electric contracts allowing only 3 kW of peak consumption, making home charging of electric cars difficult.
The top five selling electric vehicles in 2015 were the Nissan Leaf (390 units sold), Renaul Zoe (326), Citroen C-Zero (164), Tesla Model S (134) and Smart Fortwo (115).
Japan
As of December 2016, the stock of light-duty plug-in electric vehicles in Japan is the world's third largest after China and the United States, with about 147,500 highway legal plug-in electric vehicles sold in the country since 2009. Plug-in segment sales increased from 1,080 units in 2009 to 12,630 in 2011, and reached 24,440 in 2012. A total of 30,587 highway-capable plug-in electric vehicles were sold in Japan in 2013. In 2014 the segment sales remained flat with 30,390 units sold, and a market share of 1.06% of total new car sales in the country (kei cars not included). Sales totaled 24,660 units in 2015, consisting of 10,420 all-electrics and 14,190 plug-in hybrids. The rate of growth of the Japanese plug-in segment slowed down from 2013, with annual sales falling behind Europe, the U.S. and China during 2014 and 2015. The decline in plug-in car sales reflects the Japanese government and the major domestic carmakers decision to adopt and promote hydrogen fuel cell vehicles instead of plug-in electric vehicles.
The Japanese electric vehicle charging infrastructure climbed from only 60 public charging stations in early 2010, to 1,381 public quick-charge stations as of December 2012, representing the largest deployment of fast chargers in the world. The number of non-domestic slow charger points increased to around 300 units. Japan also is the country with the highest ratio of quick charging points to electric vehicles (EVSE/EV), with a ratio of 0.030 as of December 2012. The Japanese government has set up a target to deploy 2 million slow chargers and 5,000 fast charging points by 2020.
Introduction and sales
The first electric car available in the Japanese market was the Mitsubishi i MiEV, launched for fleet customers in Japan in late July 2009. Retail sales to the public began in April 2010. Sales of the Mitsubishi Minicab MiEV electric van began in December 2011. A truck version of the Minicab MiEV was launched in January 2013. Mitsubishi also launched in January 2013 a plug-in hybrid version of the Outlander, called the Mitsubishi Outlander P-HEV, becoming the first SUV plug-in hybrid in the world's market. As of December 2014, Mitsubishi had sold 36,386 light-duty plug-in electric vehicles in Japan since July 2009.
Sales of the Nissan Leaf began on December 22, 2010, when the first 10 Leaf were delivered at the Kanagawa Prefecture. Sales of the Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid began in January 2012, and a total of 19,100 units have been sold through September 2014. The Honda Accord Plug-in Hybrid is available in Japan, and as of December 2013, ranked as the third best selling plug-in hybrid in the domestic market. Retail deliveries of the Tesla Model S began in Japan in September 2014.
Sales of the plug-in electric drive segment in 2013 were led by the Nissan Leaf with 13,021 units sold, up from 11,115 in 2012. The Leaf continued as the market leader in 2014 for the fourth year running with 14,177 units sold, followed by the Outlander P-HEV with 10,064 units, together representing about 80% of the plug-in segment sales in Japan in 2014. In 2015 the Outlander plug-in hybrid was the top selling plug-in electric car in the country with 10,996 units sold, followed by the Leaf with 9,057 units. Japan is the Outlander P-HEV largest country market with 30,668 units sold through December 2015. Cumulative sales of plug-in electric cars since 2009 totaled 126,420 units at the end of 2015.
Leaf sales in 2016 achieved a record of 14,795 units delivered, surpassing the previous record set in 2014. Since December 2010, Nissan has sold 72,494 units through December 2016, making the Leaf the all-time best-selling plug-in car in the country. Between January and August 2016, a total of 4,162 Outlander P-HEVs were sold in Japan. Sales of the Outlander plug-in hybrid fell sharply from April 2016 as a result of Mitsubishi's fuel mileage scandal. Since its inception, sales of the plug-in hybrid totaled 34,830 units through August 2016.
Government incentives
In May 2009 the Japanese Diet passed the "Green Vehicle Purchasing Promotion Measure" that went into effect on June 19, 2009, but retroactive to April 10, 2009. The program established tax deductions and exemptions for environmentally friendly and fuel efficient vehicles, according to a set of stipulated environmental performance criteria, and the requirements are applied equally to both foreign and domestically produced vehicles. The program provided purchasing subsidies for two type of cases, consumers purchasing a new passenger car without trade-in (non-replacement program), and for those consumers buying a new car trading a used car registered 13 years ago or earlier (scrappage program).
Subsidies for purchases of new environmentally friendly vehicles without scrapping a used car are 100,000 yen (~US$1,100) for the purchase of a standard or small car, and 50,000 yen (~US$550) for the purchase of a mini or kei vehicle. Subsidies for purchasing trucks and buses meeting the stipulated fuel efficiency and emission criteria vary between 200,000 yen (~US$2,100) to 900,000 yen (~US$9,600).
Subsidies for purchases of new environmentally friendly vehicles in the case of owners scrapping a vehicle at least 13 years old are 250,000 yen (~US$2,700) for the purchase of a standard or small car, and 125,000 yen (~US$1,300) for the purchase of a mini or kei vehicle. Subsidies for purchasing trucks and buses meeting the stipulated fuel efficiency and emission criteria vary between 400,000 yen (~US$4,300) to 1,800,000 yen (~US$19,000).
All incentives for new purchases with or without trading were applicable in Japan's fiscal year 2009, from April 1, 2009 through March 31, 2010.
Mexico
In October 2009 Nissan reached an agreement with the local government of Mexico City, by which 500 Leafs would be delivered by 2011 for use of government and corporate fleets. In exchange, recharging infrastructure was to be deployed by the city government, and an exemption from the ownership tax is being pursued. The city government of Mexico D.F. also reached an agreement with Nissan in November 2010 in order for the first 100 Leafs to be introduced in the country to operate as part of the capital's taxi fleet. The first Leafs destined for the taxi fleet were delivered by late September 2011, allowing the country to become the first Latin American market where the Leaf is available.
As of February 2013, there were in the country about 70 Leafs deployed as taxis, 50 in Aguascalientes and 20 in Mexico City. The Aguascalientes program began in May 2012, and its implementation included the deployment of a garage with 58 charging points, the largest of its kind in the world. Carrot Mexico, a carsharing company operating in Mexico City, acquired 3 Leafs which are available to their 1,600 customers. As of October 2012, there were no government fiscal incentives available to lower the purchase price of electric cars, neither preferential electricity rates for electric car owners. However, electric cars are exempted from the driving restriction scheme implemented by plate number to restrict access to Mexico City to improve its air quality.
Retail sales of the Nissan Leaf began in June 2014, with availability initially limited to Mexico City. Deliveries to retail customers began in August 2014. The BMW i3 and i8 are also available in the country. Retail deliveries of the i3 began in Mexico City in late September 2014.
The second generation Volt was released for retail customers in December 2015. Pricing starts at 638,000 pesos (~US$36,880), and it is available in Mexico City, Monterrey, Guadalajara, Querétaro, and Puebla. Also in December 2015, retail sales of the Tesla Model S began in Mexico City. Initially, no Supercharger stations are available in the country.
Netherlands
As of 31 December 2016, there were 113,636 highway legal light-duty plug-in electric vehicles registered in the Netherlands, consisting of 98,903 range-extended and plug-in hybrids, 13,105 pure electric cars, and 1,628 all-electric light utility vans. When buses, trucks, motorcycles, quadricycles and tricycles are accounted for, the Dutch plug-in electric-drive fleet climbs to 115,193 units. The country's electric vehicle stock reaches 151,752 units when fuel cell electric vehicles (30), mopeds (3,775), electric bicycles (32,496), and microcars (258) are accounted for. A distinct feature of the Dutch plug-in market is dominance of plug-in hybrids, which represented 87% of the country's stock of passenger plug-in electric cars and vans registered at the end of December 2016.
The Netherlands listed as the world's third best-selling country market for light-duty plug-in vehicles in 2015, with 43,971 units registered. Until December 2015, the Netherlands had Europe's largest fleet light-duty plug-in vehicles. Sales in the Dutch plug-in market fell sharply during 2016 after changes in the tax rules that went into force at the beginning of 2016. Sales during the first half of 2016 were down 64% from the same period in 2015. As a result, Norway surpassed the Netherlands during 2016 as the European country with largest light-duty plug-in stock. Nevertheless, the stock of light-duty plug-in electric vehicles registered in the Netherlands passed the 100,000 unit milestone in November 2016. At the end of 2016, the Netherlands ranked as the second largest European plug-in country market and the fifth largest in the world.
The Netherlands is among the countries with the highest plug-in market penetration in the world. Registrations of plug-in electric car represented a 0.57% share of total new car registrations in 2011 and 2012. Registrations in 2013 totaled 22,415 passenger cars, climbing 338% from 2012, the highest rate of growth of any country in the world in 2013. The segment's market share in 2013 surged almost ten times from 2012 to 5.34% new car sales, the world's second highest in 2013 after Norway (5.6%). The rapid growth of segment during 2013, allowed the Netherlands to reach a market concentration of 1.71 registered plug-in electric vehicles per 1,000 people, second only to Norway (4.04). As of July 2016, the market concentration had increased to 5.6 registered plug-in cars per 1,000 people, almost as high as California's (5.8), and exceeding the U.S. by 3.7 times. After falling to 3.9% in 2014, with 43,769 plug-in passenger cars registered in 2015, the segment's market share rose to a record 9.7% of new car sales, the second highest after Norway (22.4%).
In November 2013, a total of 2,736 Mitsubishi Outlander P-HEVs were sold, making the plug-in hybrid the top selling new car in the country that month, representing a market share of 6.8% of all the new cars sold. Again in December 2013, the Outlander P-HEV ranked as the top selling new car in the country with 4,976 units, representing a 12.6% market share of new car sales, contributing to a world record plug-in vehicle market share of 23.8% of new car sales. The Netherlands is the second country, after Norway, where plug-in electric cars have topped the monthly ranking of new car sales. The strong increase of plug-in car sales during the last months of 2013 was due to the end of the total exemption of the registration fee for corporate cars, which was valid for 5 years. From January 1, 2014, all-electric vehicles pay a 4% registration fee and plug-in hybrids a 7% fee. After the change in the registration fee incentive, sales in 2014 fell significantly. A total of 15,646 plug-in electric cars were sold in 2014, down from 22,542 in 2013, with sales led by the Outlander P-HEV with 7,712 units. The top selling all-electric car in 2014 was the Tesla Model S with 1,533 units.
A total of 42,367 plug-in electric cars were sold in 2015. The top 5 best-selling plug-in electric cars in 2015 were all plug-in hybrids, led again by the Mitsubishi Outlander P-HEV (8,757). The Tesla Model S continued as the top selling all-electric car with 1,842 units. Plug-in car sales achieved its best monthly volume on record ever in December 2015, with about 15,900 units sold, and allowing the segment to reach a record market share of about 23%. The surge in plug-in car sales was due to reduction of the registration fees for plug-in hybrids. From January 1, 2016, all-electric vehicles continue to pay a 4% registration fee, but for a plug-in hybrid the fee rises from 7% to 15% if its CO2 emissions do not exceed 50 g/km. The rate for a conventional internal combustion car is 25% of its book value.
A total of 9,185 plug-in passenger cars were registered in the first three quarters of 2016, consisting of 6,567 plug-in hybrids and 2,618 all-electric cars. The market share of the plug-in car segment captured 3.2% of new car sales during the period. As of December 2016, the Outlander P-HEV remained as the all-time top-selling plug-in car in the country with 25,984 units registered, followed by the Volvo V60 Plug-in Hybrid (15,804), Volkswagen Golf GTE (10,691), Volkswagen Passat GTE (7,773), Mercedes-Benz C 350 e (6,226), and the Tesla Model S (6,049). The following table presents registrations by year for the top 10 selling plug-in electric cars since 2009 through December 2015.
- Government incentives
Considering the potential of plug-in electric vehicles in the country, the Dutch government set s target of 15,000 electric vehicles on the roads in 2015, 200,000 vehicles in 2020 and 1 million vehicles in 2025. Instead of direct purchase subsidies for electric vehicles in the Netherlands, the government established total exemption of the registration fee and road taxes, which translated in savings of approximately €5,324 for private car owners over four years, and €19,000 for corporate owners over five years. Other vehicles including hybrid electric vehicles were also exempt from these taxes if they emit less than 95 g/km for diesel-powered vehicles, or less than 110 g/km for gasoline-powered vehicles. The exemption from the registration tax ended, and from January 1, 2014, all-electric vehicles pay a 4% registration fee and plug-in hybrids a 7% fee.
Buyers also have access to parking spaces in Amsterdam reserved for battery electric vehicles, so they avoid the current wait for a parking place in Amsterdam, which can reach up to 10 years in some parts of the city. Free charging is also offered in public parking spaces. Other factors contributing to the rapid adoption of plug-in electric vehicles are the relative small size of the country, which reduces range anxiety (the Netherlands stretches about 100Â mi (160Â km) east to west); a long tradition of environmental activism; high gasoline prices (US$8.50 per gallon as of January 2013), which make the cost of running a car on electricity five times cheaper; and also some EV leasing programs provide free or discounted gasoline-powered vehicles for those who want to take a vacation driving long distances. With all of these incentives and tax breaks, plug-in electric cars have similar driving costs than conventional cars. Initially, sales of plug-in electric car were lower than expected, and during 2012 the segment captured a market share of less than 1% of new car sales in the country. As a result of the end of the total exemption of the registration fee, the segment sales peak at the end of 2013, and plug-in electric car sales reached a market share of 5.34% of new car sales in 2013.
New Zealand
As of May 2017, there were about 3,400 light-duty plug-in electric vehicles registered in the country. The fleet includes a significant number of used imports from Japan and the UK. Approximately 45 were manufactured prior to 2005 and some of these are conventional vehicles converted to electric. The number of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles in the fleet started increasing from 2009 as models such as the Mitsubishi i-MiEV were released to the market, and accelerated from 2015 as imported second-hand Japanese Nissan Leafs provided a cheaper purchase method. The majority of Nissan Leafs in New Zealand have been imported used or as a parallel-import from Japan and the UK, fewer than 100 Nissan Leafs have been imported new.
The New Zealand Government launched an Electric Vehicle Programme in May 2016, in order to encourage uptake of electric vehicles. Notable initiatives include a target of year-on-year doubling to 64,000 electric vehicles by 2021, a nationwide electric vehicle information and promotion campaign over five years (at $1 million per year), a contestable fund of up to $6 million per year to encourage and support innovative low emission vehicle projects, and an exemption from road user charges for both light and heavy vehicles.
Norway
As of December 2016, a total of 135,276 light-duty plug-in electric vehicles have been registered in Norway, making the country the one with the largest European stock of plug-in cars and vans, and the fourth largest in the world. Norway's fleet of electric cars is one of the cleanest in the world because 98% of the electricity generated in the country comes from hydropower. Norway, with 5.2 million people, is the country with the largest electric vehicle (EV) ownership per capita in the world, with Oslo recognized as the EV capital of the world. As of July 2016, the market concentration was 21.5 registered plug-in cars per 1,000 people, 14.2 times higher than the U.S., then the world's largest country market. In March 2014, Norway became the first country where over one in every 100 registered passenger cars is plug-in electric. The segment's market penetration reached 2% in March 2015, passed 3% in December 2015, and rose to 5% at the end of 2016.
The Norwegian plug-in electric vehicle market share of new car sales is the highest in the world, rising from 1.6% in 2011, to 3.1% in 2012, and reaching 5.6% of new car sales in 2013. Combined sales of new and used plug-in electric vehicles captured a 13.8% market share in 2014, and climbed to 23.4% in 2015, representing almost one in four new cars registered in the country in 2015. A record market share of 29.1% was achieved in 2016. The highest ever monthly market share for the plug-in electric passenger segment was achieved in January 2017 with 37.5% of new car sales. Also in January 2017 the electrified passenger car segment for the first time ever surpassed combined sales of cars with conventional diesel or gasoline engines. Sales of plug-in hybrids, all-electric cars and conventional hybrids achieved a combined market share of 51.4% of new car sales that month. Also, Norway was the first country in the world to have all-electric cars topping the new car sales monthly ranking. The Tesla Model S has been the top selling new car four times, and the Nissan Leaf twice. In March 2014 the Tesla Model S also broke the 28-year-old record for monthly sales of a single model regardless of its power source, with 1,493 units sold, surpassing the Ford Sierra, which sold 1,454 units in May 1986. In July 2016, when new car registrations are break down by type of powertrain, for the first time a plug-in hybrid, the Mitsubishi Outlander P-HEV, listed as the top selling new car. In September 2016, the Tesla Model X ranked as the top selling new car model in Norway when registrations are broken down by type of powetrain. The BMW i3 was the top selling new passenger car in November 2016.
- Government incentives
The Parliament of Norway set the goal to reach 50,000 zero emission vehicles by 2018. Among the existing incentives, all-electric cars are exempt in Norway from all non-recurring vehicle fees, including purchase taxes, which are extremely high for ordinary cars, and 25% VAT on purchase, together making electric car purchase price competitive with conventional cars. Pure electric vehicles are also exempt from the annual road tax, all public parking fees, and toll payments (including domestic ferries), as well as being able to use bus lanes. These incentives were set to be in effect until the end of 2017 or until the goal of 50,000 all-electric cars registered in the country was achieved. Sales of plug-in hybrids have had a much smaller market penetration than pure electric car sales because they are not eligible for the same tax exemptions and other government incentives enacted for electric cars. However, in June 2013 the government approved a tax reduction for plug-in hybrids effective since July 2013, that improved PHEV sales.
The target of 50,000 electric cars on Norwegian roads was reached on 20 April 2015, more than two years earlier than expected. The two purchase tax exemptions applicable to electric vehicles had cost the government about 3 billion krone (around US$480 million) in lost revenue just in 2014, and up to 4 billion krone (around US$640 million) if all the other benefits are accounted for. In July 2016, as the stock of prefix "EL" plates was almost depleted, the first electric vehicles were registered with the special prefix "EK" (elektrisk kjøretøy - Norwegian for electric vehicle) series, reserved for the next 90,000 EVs.
In May 2015 the Government decided to keep the existing incentives through 2017, and the political parties in Parliament agreed to reduced and phase out some of the incentives. Beginning in January 2018, electric car owners will be required to pay half of the yearly road license fee and the full rate as of 2020. The value-added tax (VAT) exemption for electric cars will end in 2018, but replaced by a new scheme, which may be subjected to a ceiling that could be reduced as technology develops. The agreement also gives local authorities the right to decide whether electric cars can park for free and use public transport lanes.
In February 2016, the government opened for public discussion until 1 July 2016 the proposed National Transport Plan 2018-2029 (NTP). Among others, the NTP sets the goal that all new cars, buses and light commercial vehicles in 2025 should be zero emission vehicles, this is, all-electric and hydrogen vehicles. By 2030, heavy-duty vans, 75% of new long-distance buses, and 50% of new trucks must be zero emission vehicles.
- Sales
As of December 2016, a total of 135,276 light-duty plug-in electric vehicles have been registered, making Norway the European country with the largest stock of plug-in cars and vans, and the fourth largest in the world. The Norwegian light-duty plug-in electric fleet consisted of 101,126 all-electric passenger cars and vans, and 34,383 plug-in hybrids. These figures account for both new and used imports registrations. Sales of used imports in Norway are significant, with more than 15,000 used imported electric cars have been registered from neighboring countries as of December 2016.
As of 30 September 2013, the total plug-in electric registered stock included 1,456 heavy quadricycles, such as the Kewet/Buddy, Th!nk City, and the REVAi. These city cars are entitled to the special "EL" (now "EK") licensed plates reserved for Norwegian electric vehicles. Registrations of light-duty plug-in electric vehicles in the country passed the 100,000 unit milestone in April 2016, and 100,000 all-electric vehicles in December 2016, representing about 10% of all pure electric cars and vans that have been sold worldwide.
Plug-in electric vehicle registrations totaled 10,769 units in 2013, representing 6.9% of total car registrations in 2013. During 2013, the Leaf continued as the top selling plug-in electric car, with 4,604 new units sold, followed by the Tesla Model S with 1,986 units (25.2%), and the Volkswagen e-Up! with 580 units (7.4%). During its first full month in the market, the Model S was the top selling car in Norway during September 2013 with 616 units delivered, representing a market share of 5.1% of all the new cars sold in the country, and becoming the first all-electric car to top the new car sales ranking in any country ever. In October 2013, and for a second month in a row, an electric car, the Nissan Leaf, was the best selling car in the country. The Leaf sold 716 units, representing a 5.6% of new car sales that month. In December 2013 the Model S, with 553 units sold and a 4.9% market share, was the top selling new car in the country for the second time in the year.
In January 2014, the Leaf topped for a second time the ranking of top selling new cars in Norway, with 650 units sold, representing a 5.7% of new car sales that month. The Model S topped the monthly sales ranking for a third time in March 2014, with 1,493 units sold, capturing a 10.8% market share of new car sales that month, and contributing to a record market share for the all-electric car segment of 20.3% of total new car sales. A total of 23,390 plug-in electric vehicles were registered in Norway in 2014. Combined sales of new and used plug-in electric vehicles captured a 13.84% market share of total passenger car registrations in 2014. Sales of the new all-electric car segment reached a market share of 12.5%. New all-electric passenger car registrations were up 129.5% from 2013, and the plug-in hybrid segment grew 411.6% from a year earlier. Norway ended 2014 as the top selling European country in the light-duty all-electric market segment, with 18,649 passenger cars and utility vans registered, surpassing France (15,046). Norway accounted for a third of all European all-electric car sales in 2014. Plug-in electric car sales in 2014 were led by the Nissan Leaf with 4,781 new registrations, followed by Tesla Model S with 4,040 units
Record sales and the highest monthly market share registered at the time were achieved in March 2015, with registration of new plug-in electric cars reaching a market share of 26.4% of new car sales. A total of 39,632 light-duty plug-in electric vehicles were registered in Norway in 2015, up from 23,408 in 2014 (69.3%). New plug-in sales totaled 34,455 units. A total of 5,177 used imports were registered, of which, 5,122 were pure electric cars. The combined sales of new plug-in cars reached a market share of 23.4% of all new passenger cars sold in 2015, with the all-electric car segment reaching 17.1%, up from 12.5% in 2014, while the plug-in hybrid segment reached 5.2%, up from 1% in 2014. The VW e-Golf, with 8,943 units sold, was the best-selling plug-in electric car in Norway in 2015, followed by the Tesla Model S (4,039). The e-Golf variant represented 54.6% of total new VW Golf nameplate sales in the country in 2015. The top selling plug-in hybrid in 2015 was the Mitsubishi Outlander P-HEV with 2,875 units, followed by the Volkswagen Golf GTE with 2,000. As of December 2015, the Nissan Leaf continued to rank as the all-time best selling plug-in electric car in the country with a total of 15,245 new Leafs registered since 2011.
New plug-in electric car registrations in February 2016 reached 28.5% market share of new car sales. A new record monthly market share for plug-in electric passenger segment was achieved in March 2016 with 33.5% of new car sales; the all-electric car segment had an 18.7% market share among new passenger cars, while the plug-in hybrid segment had a 14.8%. Registrations achieved a market share of 29.1% of all new passenger cars registered in 2016, with the all-electric car segment reaching 15.7%, down from 17.1% in 2016, and the plug-in hybrid segment up to 13.4%.
A total of 50,875 plug-in electric vehicles were registered in Norway in 2016, consisting of 24,222 new electric cars, 5,281 used imported all-electric cars, 20,663 new plug-in hybrid cars, 607 new all-electric vans, and 102 used imported all-electric vans. New light-duty plug-in registrations totaled 45,492 plug-in cars and vans registered, up 32% from 2015, and making Norway the top selling plug-in country market in Europe in 2016, surpassing the Netherlands, Europe’s top market in 2015. The Outlander PHEV ended 2016 listed as the best selling plug-in car in Norway with 5,136 units sold, the first time ever a plug-in hybrid topped the Norwegian list of top selling plug-in electric cars. Ranking next were the Volkswagen e-Golf (4,705), Volkswagen Golf GTE (4,337), and Nissan Leaf (4,162). When new car sales in 2016 are breakdown by powertrain or fuel, nine of the top ten best-selling models were electric-drive models.
In 2016 the more general category of hybrid electric cars, which in Norway includes plug-in hybrids, had a market share of 24.5% of new car sales, up from 12.4% in 2015. Accounting together the market shares of all-electric cars (15.7%), plug-in hybrids (13.4%), and conventional hybrids (11.1%), the Norwegian electric-drive segment achieved a record 40.2% market share of new cars sales in 2016. In contrast, the market share of new diesel-powered cars declined to 30.8% from 40.8% in 2015, and gasoline-powered cars had a 29.0% market share, slightly down from 29.6% in 2015. These trends indicate that the diesel segment, and in a lesser degree, the gasoline segment, are losing market share in favor of conventional hybrids and plug-in electric cars, particularly plug-in hybrids. In September 2016 the Norwegian electric-drive segment had achieved a record 47.8% market share of new cars sales that month. Sales of plug-in cars are expected to overtake diesel-powered cars in Norway in 2017.
Breaking down new car registrations by type of powertrain in July 2016, show that the Mitsubishi Outlander P-HEV was for the first time as the top selling new car in the country with 504 units registered. The Tesla Model X ranked as the top selling plug-in electric car in Norway in September 2016 with 601 units registered. However, when registrations are broken down by each variant's powetrain, the Model X also ranked as the top selling new car model in September 2016. Again in November 2016, an electric car topped new cars sales in the country. The BMW i3 listed as the top selling new passenger car with 1,014 units registered.
As of November 2016, the Nissan Leaf continued to rank as the all-time best selling plug-in electric car in the country with a total of 19,150 new Leafs registered since 2011. When used imported from neighboring countries are accounted for, there were 27,115 Leafs on Norwegian roads at the end of November 2016, representing more than 10% of total Nissan Leaf global deliveries. Ranking second is the Volkswagen e-Golf with 15,991 units, followed by the Tesla Model S with 11,615 units. These three models account for more than half of the stock of all-electric vehicles registered in the country.
The following table presents registrations of the top 15 selling plug-in electric cars and utility vans by model per year since 2008 through December 2015. Figures between 2008 and 2013 correspond to the combined number of first registrations by year accounting for both, new and used imports. Figures for 2014 and 2015 correspond only to new car registrations. The breakdown between new and used import for the Nissan Leaf and the Kia Soul EV is shown because these are the two PEV models with the largest share of used import registrations.
Philippines
The first electric car in the country was launched at Silliman University by Insular Technologies in August 2007. In some major urban cities in the Philippines like Makati, E-Jeepneys or Electric Jeepneys are used as well as Electrical Tricycles (Rickshaws). Eagle G-Car a Philippine all-electric car was made available for purchase in the Philippines as low as $3,000-$6,000), the car is made out of fiber glass. While E-Jeepneys are expected to be available in many other cities in the Philippines and hope to be revolutionize and made into an icon of the Philippines, it is a venture of Renewable Independent Power Producer Inc., which sprang from Greenpeace and other groups, and Solarco, which in turn is a part of GRIPP.
Poland
Poland is developing charging station infrastructure in Gdańsk, Katowice, Kraków, Mielec and Warsaw. Funds for the project come from the European Union. The biggest organization in Poland in the area of electric vehicles is Klaster Green Stream.
The Polish company 3xE - samochody elektryczne (3xE - electric cars) offer electric vehicle conversions of small city cars such as the Smart ForTwo, Citroën C1, Fiat Panda, Peugeot 107, Audi A2. The converted cars have a range of about 100 km (60 mi), using lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO
4) batteries and brushless DC electric motors, and the conversion can cost less than €12,000.
Portugal
The stock of the plug-in electric cars in Portugal climbed from 20 all-electric cars in 2010 to about 530 plug-in electric cars in 2013, and as of December 2015, there were about 2,000 plug-in electric cars registered in the country, consisting of 1,280 all-electric cars and 720 plug-in hybrids. As of December 2014, there were only 180 plug-in hybrids registered in the country.
Portugal reached agreements with French car maker Renault and its Japanese partner Nissan to boost the use of electric cars by creating a national recharging network. The aim was to make Portugal one of the first countries to offer drivers nationwide charging stations. As of May 2010, there are only about a dozen recharging stations in the country, but the government expects to deploy 320 before the end of 2010 and 1,300 by the end of 2011. The government established a subsidy of €5,000 for the first 5,000 new electric cars sold in the country. In addition, there was a €1,500 incentive if the consumer turned in a used car at least 10 years old as part of the down payment for the new electric car. Electric cars were also exempt from the registration tax. These incentives were discontinued at the end of 2011 due to the financial crisis of the country.
On December 22, 2010, Nissan delivered in Lisbon the first nine Leafs to its commercial customer the MOBI.E consortium, and another unit to the Portuguese government as a loan for trial purposes. Deliveries for individual customers began in early 2011. Since 2010 a total of 283 electric cars and utility vans have been sold in the country through October 2012, with the Nissan Leaf as the best selling EV with 121 units. Sales decreased significantly during 2012, with only 44 units sold between January and July due to the end of fiscal incentives.
Plug-in electric car sales totaled 1,305 units in 2015, up 260% from 2014. The plug-in electric segment market share totaled 0.61% of new car sales, up from the 0.25% in 2014. The top selling models were the Mitsubishi Outlander P-HEV (229), Nissan Leaf (209), BMW i3 (162), Renault Zoe (153), and the Mercedes-Benz C350 e (80).
Russia
As of 1 July 2016, a total of 722 plug-in electric vehicles were registered in Russia. Registrations are led by the Mitsubishi i-MiEV with 249 cars, followed by the Nissan Leaf with 189 units, Tesla Model S with 167, and the Lada Ellada with 93. There were also less than 20 units of the Renault Twizy, BMW i3 and Tesla Model X.
Singapore
As of October 2016, there were 129 plug-in electric cars registered in Singapore, representing 0.02% of the country's automobiles on the road. BMW is the plug-in segment leader. Despite the existing government incentive that grants a maximum tax rebate of $30,000 for electric cars, adoption of plug-in electric vehicles has been slow in Singapore due to the high purchase prices, lack of public charging infrastructure, and unclear national policies on clean cars. As of October 2016, there were 74 public charging stations across the island managed by Bosch and Greenlots.
The country's existing taxation scheme sometimes make a plug-in car more expensive than a conventional car. Among other factors is the carbon surcharge, applied to account for grid CO2 emissions during the electricity generation and distribution process, which is not applied to the production and distribution of petrol or diesel. There is also the scrap rebate, which is higher for electric vehicles as compared to a petrol model of the same value, resulting in significantly lower resale values for electric cars. The annual road tax also present inconsistencies that might increase the cost of owning a plug-in electric car.
South Africa
The stock of the plug-in electric cars in the country climbed from 30 all-electric cars in 2013 to about 50 in 2013, and as of December 2015, there were about 290 plug-in electric cars registered, consisting of 170 all-electric cars and 120 plug-in hybrids. All the plug-in hybrids were registered in 2015.
GridCars is a Pretoria based company promoting Commuter Cars, their launch vehicle is based on the TREV from Australia. The concept behind the electric car is to build ultra-light EVs, placing less demand on battery requirements, and making the vehicle more affordable. The Joule, designed by Cape Town-based Optimal Energy, made its debut at the 2008 Paris Motor Show, has a maximum driving range of 300Â km (190Â mi). The Juoule accommodates two large-cell lithium ion battery packs.
The first series production electric car available for retail sales in the country was the Nissan Leaf, introduced in October 2013. BMW South Africa has plans to introduce the BMW i3 and BMW i8. The country does not have government incentives or subsidies to promote electric cars. Plug-in electric car sales totaled 80 units during the first three months of 2016, consisting of 55 BMW i3s, 15 BMW i8s, and 10 Nissan Leafs.
South Korea
As of October 2016, about 7,200 plug-in electric cars have been sold in South Korea. The stock of the plug-in electric cars in the country climbed from 60 all-electric cars in 2010 to about 1,450 in 2013, and as of December 2015, there were over 4,300 plug-in electric cars registered in South Korea, consisting of over 4,000 all-electric cars and 270 plug-in hybrids. All the plug-in hybrids were registered in 2015. A total of 2,896 plug-in electric vehicles were sold during the first ten months of 2016, up 12% year-on-year.
As of 2014, all the electric cars models on sale in South Korea were domestically manufactured by local brands. Sales during the first eight months of 2015 totaled 1,744 units. The top selling models during this period were the Kia Soul EV (657), Samsung SM3 Z.E. (640) and the BMW i3 (243). The Hyundai Ioniq Electric was released in South Korea in July 2016, and sold more than 1,000 units during its first two months in the market. Hyundai expects to sell at least 4,800 Ioniq Electric in 2016, representing more than 60% of the total electric car sales in the country in 2016 year, estimated at around 8,000 electric vehicles.
The government subsidy has in place a one-time purchase subsidy for electric cars. Effective July 8, 2016, the subsidy was increased to 14 million won (US$12,100) from 12 million won (US$10,400). Also starting in 2016, the purchase tax surcharges of electric cars will be reduced, and all-electric car drivers will benefit from reductions in insurance premiums, expressway tolls and parking fees.
In July 2016, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced a plan to make electric car batteries run longer, build a network of charging stations and make electric car purchases and ownership more affordable. The government expects that the current and future policy programs will help increase the electric car market share in South Korea to 0.5% in 2017, up from 0.2% in 2015, and to achieve 5.3% in 2020. The government plan calls for the deployment of fast charging stations in 2020 to be available at an average of one within a two-kilometer radius in the capital city of Seoul. In addition, 30,000 slow charging stations will be strategically located at about 4,000 apartment complexes nationwide by 2020.
The government's plan also includes the development of an electric car battery, beginning in 2016, with energy density high enough to more than double the travel distance on a charge to 400Â km (250Â mi). The government expects to increase the global market share of South Korean electric cars to match that of South Korean gasoline and diesel cars, which reached 8.5% based on sales by South Korea's two main car exporters, Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Motors.
Spain
The stock of the plug-in electric cars in Spain climbed from 70 all-electric cars in 2010 to about 1,200 plug-in electric cars in 2012, and as of December 2015, there were almost 6,000 plug-in electric cars registered in the country, consisting of 4,460 all-electric cars and 1,490 plug-in hybrids. The first 10 plug-in hybrids were registered in the country in 2011.
In May 2011 the Spanish government approved a €72 million (US$103 million) fund for year 2011 to promote electric vehicles. The incentives include direct subsidies for the acquisition of new electric cars for up to 25% of the purchase price, before tax, to a maximum of €6,000 per vehicle (US$8,600), and 25% of the gross purchase price of other electric vehicles such as buses and vans, with a maximum of €15,000 or €30,000, depending on the range and type of vehicle. Several regional government grant incentives for the purchase of alternative fuel vehicles including electric and hybrid vehicles. In Aragón, Asturias, Baleares, Madrid, Navarra, Valencia, Castilla-La Mancha, Murcia, Castile and León electric vehicles are eligible to a €6,000 tax incentive and hybrids to €2,000.
Retail sales of the Mitsubishi i-MiEV began in December 2010 . A total of 233 i-MiEV family electric cars were sold during 2011, representing 58% of all electric vehicles sold in Spain that year. The Nissan Leaf was released in Barcelona in September 2011, followed by Madrid in October 2011. A total of 137 Leafs were sold through September 2012.
A total of 401 electric cars and utility vehicles were sold in Spain during 2011, led by the Peugeot iOn with 125 units, followed by 85 Citroën C-Zeros and 59 Nissan Leafs. During the first half of 2012 a total of 209 electric cars were sold, representing a market share of 0.05% of new car sales. During 2012 plug-in electric car sales totaled 484 units and 176 electric utility vans were sold, for a total of 660 highway-capable plug-in vehicles registered in 2012. In addition, 943 Renault Twizy quadricycles were sold in the country, making the Twizy the top selling plug-in electric vehicle, followed by the Renault Kangoo Z.E. with 176 units, and the Nissan Leaf with 154 units.
Plug-in electric car sales in Spain totaled 1,958 units in 2014, up 53% from 2013. The market penetration of highway-capable plug-in electric cars climbed in 2014 to 0.16% of total new car sales in the country, up from 0.05% in 2011. Sales in 2014 were led by the Nissan Leaf with 465 units, followed by the Renault Zoe with 289. Plug-in electric car sales totaled 3,015 units in 2015, up 54% from 2014. The top selling models in 2015 were the Mitsubishi Outlander P-HEV (389), Smart electric drive (388), Nissan Leaf (344), Renault Zoe (312), Renault Kangoo Z.E. (257), and the BMW i3 (251).
A total of 3,129 plug-in electric vehicles were sold in Spain during the first three quarters of 2016. Sales continued to growth at an accelerated pace, up 79% from the same period in 2015. The segment achieved a market share of 0.36% of new car registrations The Outlander P-HEV continued as the top selling plug-in with 495 units, followed by the Leaf with 435, the BMW i3 with 267, and the Zoe with 257 units.
Sri Lanka
Sales of the Nissan Leaf in Sri Lanka began in 2013. There are no government incentives or subsidies to promote electric cars in Sri Lanka. Electric vehicle tax increased from 5% to 50% through the new Government's Interim Budget.
As of September 2015, a total of 2,072 electric cars have been registered in the country, with the Nissan Leaf ranking as the most popular model. Electric car sales experienced a record month in September 2015 with 471 units registered, up from only 15 in September 2014. Four Tesla Model S cars were registered the record month.
Sweden
As of December 2016, a total of 30,525 plug-in electric vehicles have been registered in Sweden since 2011, consisting of 21,181 plug-in hybrids, 7,985 all-electric cars and 1,359 all-electric utility vans. The Swedish plug-in electric market is dominated by plug-in hybrids, representing 69.4% of the Swedish light-duty plug-in electric vehicle registrations through December 2016. Sweden has ranked among the world's top ten best-selling plug-in markets for two years running, 2015 and 2016, listed in both years as the ninth largest country market. As of December 2016, the Swedish stock of plug-in cars and vans is the sixth largest in Europe. The market share of plug-in electric vehicles climbed from 0.57% in 2013 to 1.53% of new car sales in the country in 2014. The country achieved a record market share of 2.5% of new car sales in 2015, and rose to 3.5% in 2016.
Government incentives
In September 2011 the Swedish government approved a 200 million kr program, effective starting in January 2012, to provide a subsidy of 40,000 kr per car for the purchase of 5,000 electric cars and other "super green cars" with ultra-low carbon emissions, defined as those with emissions below 50 grams of carbon dioxide (CO2) per km. There is also an exemption from the annual circulation tax for the first five years from the date of their first registration that benefits owners of electric vehicles with an energy consumption of 37 kWh per 100Â km or less, and hybrid vehicles with CO2 emissions of 120 g/km or less. In addition, for both electric and hybrid vehicles, the taxable value of the car for the purposes of calculating the benefit in kind of a company car under personal income tax is reduced by 40% compared with the corresponding or comparable gasoline or diesel-powered car. The reduction of the taxable value has a cap of 16,000 kr per year.
By July 2014 the program run out of funds as a total of 5,028 new "super clean cars" had been registered in the country since January 2012. BIL Sweden, the national association for the automobile industry, requested the government an additional 100 million kr to cover the subsidy for another 2,500 registrations of new super clean cars between August and December 2014. In December 2014 the Riksdagen, the Swedish parliament, approved an appropriation of 215 million kr to finance the super clean car subsidies in 2015. The appropriation for 2015, according to the parliamentary decision and subsequent government decision, was to also be used for the retroactive payment of the super green cars registered in 2014 that did not receive the subsidy.
The Government raised the appropriation for the super green car rebate by 132 million kr for 2015 and by 94 million kr for 2016. Beginning in 2016, only zero emissions cars are entitled to receive the full 40,000 kr premium, while other super green cars, plug-in hybrids, receive half premium. The exemption for the first five years of ownership from the annual circulation tax is still in place. In 2016, in order to promote the introduction of electricity-powered buses in the market, the Government planned to allocate 50 million kr for 2016 and 100 million kr per year between 2017 and 2019 to introduce an electric bus premium.
Two alternative proposals are being considered by the Swedish government regarding the introduction of a bonus-malus system. Both proposals entail changes to vehicle and car benefit taxation and the premium system for purchases of new cars. An official inquiry report was due by 29 April 2016. The goal is for the system to enter into force on 1 January 2017.
Registrations
A total of 178 all-electric cars were registered in Sweden in 2011, and registrations of plug-in electric vehicles climbed to 928 units in 2012, led by the Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid with 499 units, followed by the Nissan Leaf with 129 units, and the third place was shared by the Volvo C30 Electric and the Opel Ampera with 88 units each. Electric-drive cars reached a market share of 0.33% in 2012. In addition, 265 Renault Kangoo Z.E. utility vans were sold in 2012. During 2013 a total of 1,545 plug-in electric cars were registered in the country out of 269,363 new passenger cars sold, representing a market share of 0.57%. With 1,113 units registered in 2013, plug-in hybrids represented 72.0% of total plug-in electric car registrations. This number includes 10 BMW i3s sold with the range extender option, which in Sweden are classified as plug-in hybrids. The top selling plug-in cars during 2013 were the Volvo V60 PHEV with 601 units, the Prius PHV with 376 and the Nissan Leaf with 317.
Plug-in electric car sales during 2014 grew significantly. Registrations of super clean cars increased five-fold in July 2014 driven by the end of the quota of 5,000 new cars eligible for the super clean car subsidy. A total of 4,656 plug-in super clean passenger cars were registered in 2014, representing a 1.53% market share of new passenger cars registered in the country in 2014. Registrations of super clean cars were up 201% from 2013, while registrations of new passenger cars increased 12.7%. Super clean cars represented 8.8% of alternative fuel cars sold during 2014. The top selling plug-in electric cars in 2014 were the Mitsubishi Outlander P-HEV with 2,289 units, Volvo V60 PHEV with 745, and the Nissan Leaf with 438 units. The top selling all-electric utility van was the Kangoo Z.E. with 242 units out of a total of 282 electric vans registered.
A total of 8,908 light-duty plug-in electric vehicles were registered in 2015, up 80% from 2014. The registered stock consisted of 5,625 plug-in hybrids, 2,962 all-electric cars and 321 all-electric utility vans. The plug-in segment had a market share of 2.49% of new car sales in 2015. The Mitsubishi Outlander P-HEV was the top selling plug-in car for a second year running with 3,302 units registered in 2015, followed by the Tesla Model S with 996 units. The top selling all-electric utility van was the Nissan e-NV200 with 168 units. As of December 2015, a total of 16,996 plug-in electric vehicles had registered in Sweden since 2011, up from 7,342 at the end of 2014 (131.5%).
Registrations totaled 13,454 light-duty plug-in electric vehicles in 2016, consisting 10,257 plug-in hybrids, up 16.7% from 2015, 2,924 all-electric cars, up 4.8% year-on-year, and 273 all-electric vans down 15.9% from 2015. Super clean car registrations totaled 12,995 units, up 51.4% from 2015. The plug-in electric car segment achieved a market share of 3.5% of all new cars registered in 2016, the world's third largest after Norway and the Netherlands. Stockholm county registered the highest proportion of super green car registrations during the first nine months of 2016, with 5.6% of the country's total. The proportion during September 2016 was 8.5%. In 2016 the Volkswagen Passat GTE listed as the top selling plug-in car with 3,804 units, followed by the Outlander P-HEV (1,819), Volvo V60 PHEV (1,239), Volvo XC90 T8 (983), Tesla Model S (838), and Nissan Leaf (836). The top selling all-electric utility van was the Renault Kangoo Z.E. with 171 units registered.
As of December 2016, the all-time top selling plug-in electric cars are the Mitsubishi Outlander P-HEV with 7,506 units registered, followed by the Volkswagen Passat GTE (4,075), Volvo V60 PHEV (3,239), Nissan Leaf (2,561) and Tesla Model S (2,099). The Renault Kangoo Z.E. continued as the all-time the leader in the plug-in commercial utility segment with 1,024 units. The following table presents registrations of highway-capable plug-in electric passenger cars by model between January 2011 and September 2016.
Switzerland
As of April 2016, over 12,000 plug-in electric cars have been registered in Switzerland since 2012. During the first quarter of 2016, a total of 1,479 plug-in electric car were registered in the country, consisting of 773 all-electric cars (up 37.5% from 1Q 2015), and 706 plug-in hybrids (up 44.1% from 1Q 2015). Registrations of plug-in cars totaled 6,288 units in 2015, up 133.9% from 2,668 in 2014. The plug-in segment registrations totaled 1,717 units in 2013.
Deliveries of the Mitsubishi i MiEV began in 2011, and a total of 430 units have been registered in Switzerland through September 2012, including 219 i MiEVs, 110 C-Zeros, and 101 iOns. The Nissan Leaf was launched in November 2011, and a total of 86 Leafs have been sold through September 2012.
As of December 2015, new passenger all-electric car registrations totaled 6,499 units since 2006, while range extender electric cars totaled 1,333 units since their introduction in the country in 2011. No detail is available for parallel plug-in hybrid registrations as these cars were accounted together with conventional hybrid electric vehicles. A total of 2,389 all-electric passenger cars were sold in 2015, representing a market share of 1% of total new car registrations. During the first nine months of 2015, registrations in the all-electric segment were led by the Tesla Model S with 1,146 units, followed by the Renault Zoe with 318, and the all-electric variant of the BMW i3 with 201. The plug-in hybrid segment was led by the Volkswagen Golf GTE with 497 units, followed by the BMW i3 REx with 387 units, and the Audi A3 e-tron with 343. With 588 new units registered through September 2015, the BMW i3 was the second best selling model after the Model S.
The Swiss government does not have any subsidies or incentives for purchasing plug-in electric vehicles. Cantons can propose special discounts on annual taxes depending on the car's efficiency label and range from 100% rabate (e.g. Solothurn) to 0%.
Ukraine
As of 1 January 2017, a total of 3161 plug-in electric vehicles and gibrides were registered in Ukraine. Registrations are led by the Nissan Leaf with 647 cars, followed by the Tesla Model S with 72, and the BMW i3 with 19.
About 90% of electric car registrations in Ukraine are used imports, particularly from the United States with cars that are two- to three-years old, and mileage between 30,000 to 40,000Â km (19,000 to 25,000Â mi). Used imports are attractive in the Ukrainian market because the purchase price is two times lower than a new electric vehicle in Europe. During the first eight months of 2016, Ukrainians imported twice as much used electric cars than the whole 2015. Imports of used electric cars in Ukraine grew from 95 in 2014, to 731 in 2015, and totaled 1,550 units during the first eight months of 2016.
Nevertheless, at the beginning of August 2016, Ukrainian officials started to refuse the registration of American electric vehicles, citing the need for certification by European rules. To comply with the certification requirements, the cars have to be converted from U.S. to European standards, which includes the replacement of a windshield, headlights and other parts of the electric vehicle, at a cost of more than US$1,000.
United Kingdom
More than 100,000 plug-in electric vehicles have been registered in the UK up until March 2017, including about 4,500 electric commercial vans. This figure includes a significant number of registered plug-in electric cars and vans which were not eligible for the grant schemes. As of March 2017, the number of eligible registered plug-in electric cars that have benefited with the subsidy totaled 94,541 units since the launch of the programme in 2011, and, as of December 2016, the number of claims made through the Plug-in Van Grant scheme totaled 2,938 units since the launch of the programme in 2012. As of 7 October 2016, the UK had 11,903 public charging points at 4,215 locations, of which 2,140 were rapid charging points at 696 locations.
Before the introduction of series production plug-in vehicles, a total of 1,096 all-electric vehicles were registered in the UK between 2006 and December 2010. Electric car sales grew from 138 units in 2010 to 1,082 units during 2011. Before 2011, the G-Wiz, a heavy quadricycle, listed as the top-selling EV for several years. During 2012, a total of 2,254 plug-in electric cars were registered in the UK, of which, 1,262 were pure electrics, and sales were led by the Nissan Leaf with 699 units, followed by the Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid and the Vauxhall Ampera, with 470 and 455 units sold, respectively, in 2012. Vehicles eligible for the Plug-in Car Grant accounted for 0.1% of total new car sales in 2012.
During 2013, a total of 3,586 plug-in electric cars were registered, up 59.0% from 2012. Of these, 2,512 were pure electric cars, up 99.0% from 2012, and 1,074 plug-in hybrids, up 8.1% from 2012. Plug-in car sales represented a 0.16% market share of total new cars sales in the UK in 2013. The top selling plug-in electric car during 2013 was the Nissan Leaf, with 1,812 units sold, and the Prius PHV ended 2013 as the top selling plug-in hybrid with 509 units sold, up 8.5% from 2012.
The British market experienced a surge of plug-in car sales during 2014, driven by the introduction of several new models. Plug-in electric car registrations in the UK quadruple from 3,586 in 2013 to 14,518 units in 2014. Registrations during 2014 consisted of 6,697 pure electrics and 7,821 plug-in hybrids. Total registrations in 2014 were up 305% from 2013, with all-electric cars growing 167% while plug-in hybrid registrations were up 628% from a year earlier. The plug-in electric car segment captured a 0.59% market share of new car sales in 2014, up from 0.16% in 2013. In November 2014, with 646 all-electric cars and 1,225 plug-in hybrids registered, the segment's market share passed 1% of monthly new car sales for the first time in the UK.
Nissan Leaf sales in September 2014 achieved a record of 851 units, up from 332 units the same month in 2013, representing not only the best monthly sales ever in the UK, but also the largest volume of Nissan Leafs ever sold in one month in a European country. The previous European record was achieved by Norway in March 2013 with 703 Leafs sold in that month. The Outlander P-HEV was among the new models with a significant effect in the market, released in April 2014, it captured a 35.8% market share of total plug-in sales during the first half of 2014. The Mitsubishi plug-in hybrid became the top selling plug-in electric vehicle in July 2014 and captured 43% of all applications to the Plug-in Car Grants scheme that month. The Outlander P-HEV ended 2014 as the top selling plug-in electric car in the UK that year with 5,370 units sold. The Nissan Leaf sales also experienced a significant growth in 2014, with 4,051 units sold, up 124% from the 1,812 units sold in 2013. As of December 2014, the Leaf continued ranking as the top selling plug-in electric car ever in the UK with cumulative sales of 7,197 units since its introduction in March 2011. Over 24,500 light-duty plug-in electric cars were registered in the country at the end of December 2014.
The surge in demand for plug-in cars continued during 2015, to the extent that 2014's ultra-low emission vehicle (ULEV) sales figure was passed in June 2015. Plug-in electric car registrations in the UK totaled 28,188 units in 2015, consisting of 9,934 pure electric cars and 18,254 plug-in hybrids. Total registrations in 2015 were up 94.0% from 2014, with all-electric cars growing 48.3% year-on-year, while plug-in hybrid registrations were up 133.0% year-on-year. The plug-in electric car segment raised its market share of new car sales in 2015 to almost 1.1%, up from 0.59% in 2014. With almost 3,100 plug-in cars sold during December 2015, the plug-in segment reached a record of 1.7% of new car sales in the UK, the highest ever.
Sales of the Mitsubishi Outlander P-HEV in the British market reached the 10,000 unit milestone in March 2015, allowing the plug-in hybrid to overtake the Leaf as the all-time top selling plug-in electric vehicle in the UK. Sales of the Nissan Leaf sales passed the 10,000 unit milestone in June 2015. The top selling models in 2015 were the Outlander P-HEV with 11,681 units registered, up 118% from 2014, followed by the Leaf with 5,236 units (up 29%), and the BMW i3 with 2,213 units (up 59%). Plug-in car sales in March 2016 achieved the best monthly plug-in registration volume on record ever, and the plug-in segment market share reached 1.37% of total UK new car registrations that month.
Registrations during the first six months of 2016 recorded the highest-volume half-year ever for plug-in electric car registrations. A total of 36,907 plug-in electric vehicles were registered in 2016, of which, 35,447 cars were eligible for the Plug-in Car Grant. Registrations consisted of 10,264 all-electric cars, up 3.3% from 2015, and 26,643 plug-in hybrids, up 41.9% from the previous year. Sales of plug-in hybrids oversold pure electric cars, with the latter more than doubling sales of battery electric models. The plug-in car segment's market share reached 1.37% of new car sales in 2016. While overall new car registrations year-to-date increased 2.3% from the same period in 2015, total plug-in car registrations in 2016 increased 28.6% from a year earlier. The Outlander P-HEV continued to lead sales of the plug-in electric segment in 2016 with 9,486 units delivered. The Leaf remained as the top selling all-electric car with 4,463 units registered.
The Mitsubishi Outlander P-HEV is the all-time top selling plug-in car in the UK with 26,600 units registered through December 2016, accounting for about 50% of all plug-in hybrid sold in the British market since 2010. The Nissan Leaf ranks second and it is also the all-time top selling all-electric car with 15,000 units sold by September 2016. Ranking third is the BMW i3 with 4,457 units, followed by the Renault Zoe with 4,339 units, both, registered at the end of June 2016. The following table presents registrations of the top 20 selling highway-capable plug-in electric cars by model by the end of 2014, by the end of 2015, and by the end of June 2016.
Government incentives
The Plug-in Car Grant program started on 1 January 2011 and is available across the U.K. The programme reduces the up-front cost of eligible cars by providing a 25% grant towards the cost of new plug-in cars capped at GB£5,000 (~US$7,450). From 1 April 2015, the purchase price cap was raised to cover up to 35% discount of the vehicle's recommended retail price, up to the already existing GB£5,000 limit. This change means electric cars priced under GB£20,000 can take advantage of most or all of the GB£5,000 discount. Both private and business fleet buyers are eligible for this grant, which is received at the point of purchase and the subsidy is claimed back by the manufacturer afterwards.
The Plug-In Car Grant was extended to include vans since February 2012. Van buyers can receive 20% - up to GB£8,000 (~US$12,000)- off the cost of a plug-in van. To be eligible for the scheme, vans have to meet performance criteria to ensure safety, range, and ultra-low tailpipe emissions. Consumers, both business and private can receive the discount at the point of purchase. The Plug-In Van Grant scheme was extended in October 2016 to make electric trucks above 3.5 tonnes eligible for grants of up to GB£20,000, when businesses switch their large trucks to an electric vehicle. The government also announced their commitment for an additional GB£4 million to the scheme so that all vans and trucks meeting the eligibility requirements can benefit from the grant scheme.
In April 2014, the government announced that funding for the full grant of up to GB£5,000 would remain in place until either 50,000 grants have been issued or 2017, whichever was first. As forecasts estimated that the scheme would reach its 50,000 limit around November 2015, the government announced in August 2015 that the Plug-in Car Grant would continue until at least February 2016 for all plug-in cars with CO2 emissions of 75 g/km of under. The government also announced that a minimum of GB£200 million (~US$300 million) had been made available to continue the Plug-in Car Grant.
In December 2015, the Department for Transport (DfT) announced that plug-in car grant was extended until March 2018 to encourage more than 100,000 UK motorists to buy cleaner vehicles. A total funding of GB£400 million (~US$600 million) will be available for the extension. To reflect the rapidly developing technology, and the growing range of ULEVs on the British market, the criteria for the Plug-in Car Grant was updated and the maximum grant drops from GB£5,000 (~US$7,450) to GB£4,500 (~US$6,700). For the extension, the amount of the grant is linked in directly with the Office for Low Emission Vehicles three vehicle categories issued in April 2015. The eligible ultra-low emission vehicles (ULEVs) must meet criteria in one of three categories depending on emission levels (CO2 emissions bands between 50 and 75g/km) and zero-emission-capable mileage (minimum of 10 mi (16 km)), with a technology neutral approach, which means that hydrogen fuel cell cars are eligible for the grant. The updated scheme will go into effect on 1 March 2016.
A price cap will be in place, with all Category 1 plug-in vehicles eligible for the full grant no matter what their purchase price, while Category 2 and 3 models with a list price of more than GB£60,000 (~US$90,000) will not be eligible for the grant. Under the extended scheme, some plug-in hybrid sports car will no longer be eligible for the grant, such as the BMW i8 because of its GB£100,000 (~US$150,000) purchase price tag. Vehicles with a zero-emission range of at least 70 mi (110 km) (category 1), including hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, will get a full GB£4,500 (~US$6,700), but plug-in hybrids (categories 2 and 3) costing under GB£60,000 (~US$90,000) will receive GB£2,500 (~US$3,725). The grant scheme will come under review when a cumulative total of 40,000 Category 1 claims, and 45,000 Category 2 and 3 combined sales have been made. Both these totals will include cars sold before March 2016.
In addition to the extension of the Plug-in Grant, the government also announced it will continue the "Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme." Starting in March 2016 owners of ultra-low emission vehicles who install a dedicated charge point at their home, covering roughly half the average cost, will get GB£500 (~US$750) towards the cost of installing the charging point, rather than the previous GB£700 (~US$1,050) maximum.
- Exemption from the London congestion charge
All-electric vehicles (BEVs) and eligible plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) qualify for a 100% discount from the London congestion charge. A plug-in electric drive vehicle qualifies if the vehicle is registered with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) and has a fuel type of 'electric', or alternatively, if the vehicle is a 'plug-in hybrid' and is on the Government's list of PHEVs eligible for the OLEV grant. As of February 2016, approved PHEVs include all extended-range cars such as the BMW i3 REx, and plug-in hybrids that emit 75g/km or less of CO2 and that meet the Euro 5 standard for air quality, such as the Audi A3 Sportback e-tron, BMW i8, Mitsubishi Outlander P-HEV (passenger and van variants), Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid, and Volkswagen Golf GTE.
United States
As of December 2016, cumulative sales in the United States totaled 570,187 highway legal plug-in electric cars since the market launch of the Tesla Roadster in 2008, accounting for 28.1% of the global light-duty plug-in stock, down from about 40% in 2014. As of December 2016, the U.S. has the world's third largest stock of plug-in passenger cars, after China and Europe. As of August 2016, the distribution of cumulative sales since 2010 between the two plug-in technologies was 52.8% all-electrics and 47.2% plug-in hybrids. Sales of series production PEVs in the U.S. market during its first two years were lower than the initial expectations. According to Pike Research, cumulative sales will reach the one million goal set by the Obama Administration only in 2018 instead of 2015. Cumulative plug-in electric car sales since 2008 reached the 250,000 unit milestone in August 2014, and the 500,000 unit milestone in August 2016.
Nationwide plug-in car sales climbed from 17,800 units in 2011 to 53,200 during 2012, and reached 97,100 units delivered in 2013, up 83% from the previous year. During 2014 plug-in electric car sales totaled 123,347 units, up 27.0% from 2013, and fell to 114,248 units in 2015, down 7.4% from 2014. A total of 157,181 plug-in cars were sold in 2016, up 37.6% from 2015. The market share of plug-in electric passenger cars increased from 0.14% of new car sales in 2011 to 0.37% in 2012, 0.62% in 2013, and reached 0.75% of new car sales during 2014. As plug-in car sales slowed down during the 2015, the segment's market share fell to 0.66% of new car sales, and increased to 0.90% in 2016. The highest-ever monthly market share for plug-in electric vehicles was achieved in December 2016 with 1.39% of new car sales. The previous record was set in September 2016 (1.12%) marking the first time plug-in cars sold more than 1% of the new light-duty market in the U.S. December 2016 is also the best monthly plug-in sales volume on record ever, with 23,288 units delivered.
As of December 2016, there were 30 highway-capable plug-in cars available in the American market for retail sales from over a dozen car manufacturers, plus several models of electric motorcycles, utility vans and neighborhood electric vehicles (NEVs). As of December 2016, total sales are led by the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid with 113,489 units, followed by the Nissan Leaf all-electric car with 103,597 units delivered. Both plug-in cars were released in December 2010. Launched in the U.S. market in June 2012, the Tesla Model S ranks as the third top selling plug-in electric car with an estimated 92,317 units sold through December 2016, followed by the Prius PHV, launched in February 2012, with 44,767 units. Ranking fifth is the Ford Fusion Energi with 43,327 units, followed by the Ford C-Max Energi with 33,509 units delivered through December 2016.
During 2013 sales were led by the Chevrolet Volt with 23,094 units, followed by the Nissan Leaf with 22,610 cars, and the Tesla Model S with around 18,000 units. In 2014 the Leaf took the lead, with 30,200 units sold, with the Volt ranking second with 18,805, followed by the Model S with 16,689 units. The Tesla Model S, with 25,202 units delivered, was the top selling plug-in car in the U.S. in 2015, followed by the Nissan Leaf with 17,269 units, the Volt with 15,393, and the BMW i3 with 11,024. For a second year on a row, the Model S was the top selling plug-in car with about 29,156 units sold in 2016, followed by the Volt with 24,739, Model X with about 18,028, and the Ford Fusion Energi with 15,938.
California is the largest U.S. car market, and accounts for approximately 48% of cumulative plug-in sales in the American market from 2011 to June 2016, and also accounts for about 50% of nationwide all-electric car sales and 47% of total plug-in hybrid sales. The other nine states that follow California's Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) regulations have accounted for another 10% of cumulative plug-in car sales in the U.S. during the same period. California's overall plug-in market share has remained at about 3% statewide light-duty vehicle sales for 2015 and the first half of 2016., Until December 2014 California had more plug-in electric vehicles than any other country, and its plug-in sales volume in 2014 was higher than any other country. California's plug-in market share in 2015 was surpassed only by two countries, Norway (22.4%) and the Netherlands (9.7%). As of December 2016, China is the only other country with more plug-in electric cars on the road than California.
As of 31 January 2016, the United States had 12,203 charging stations across the country, up from 5,678 in March 2013. California led with 2,976 stations, followed by Texas with 686, and Florida with 626. In terms of public charging points, there were 30,669 public outlets available across the country by the end of January 2016, led by California with 9,086 charging points (29.6%), followed by Texas with 1,679 (13.8%), and Florida and Washington state with 1,435 each (11.8%). There were 592 CHAdeMO quick charging stations across the country by April 2014.
The following table presents cumulative sales for the top-10 best selling highway-capable plug-in electric cars and available for retail sales between 1996 and December 2016.
- Government incentives
The Energy Improvement and Extension Act of 2008, and later the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACES) granted tax credits for new qualified plug-in electric vehicles. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) also authorized federal tax credits for converted plug-ins, though the credit is lower than for new PEVs.
The federal tax credit for new plug-in electric vehicles is worth $2,500 plus $417 for each kilowatt-hour of battery capacity over 5 kWh, and the portion of the credit determined by battery capacity cannot exceed $5,000. Therefore, the total amount of the credit allowed for a new PEV is $7,500. Several states have established incentives and tax exemptions for BEVs and PHEV, and other non-monetary incentives.
Two separate initiatives are being pursued in 2011 to transform the tax credit into a cash rebate worth up to $7,500. The initiatives by Senator Debbie Stabenow and the Obama Administration seek to make new qualifying plug-in electric cars more accessible to buyers by making the incentive more effective. The rebate will be available at the point of sale allowing consumers to avoid a wait of up to a year to apply the tax credit against income tax returns. Another change to the rules governing the tax credit was introduced by Senator Carl Levin and Representative Sander Levin who are proposing to raise the existing cap on the number of plug-in vehicles eligible for the tax credit. The proposal raises that limit from the existing 200,000 PEVs per manufacturer to 500,000 units.
The U.S. government also has pledged US$2.4 billion in federal grants to support the development of next-generation electric cars and batteries, and US$115 million for the installation of electric vehicle charging infrastructure in 16 different metropolitan areas around the country. President Barack Obama also set the goal of bringing 1 million plug-in electric vehicles on the road by 2015. However, considering the actual slow rate of PEV sales, as of mid-2012 several industry observers have concluded that this goal is unattainable.
- CARB ZEV mandate
Since the late 1980s, electric vehicles have been promoted in the US through the use of tax credits. Electric cars are the most common form of what is defined by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) as zero emission vehicle (ZEV) passenger automobiles, because they produce no emissions while being driven. The CARB had set progressive quotas for sales of ZEVs, but most were withdrawn after lobbying and a lawsuit by auto manufacturers complaining that EVs were economically infeasible due to an obvious lack of consumer demand. Many of the factors that hindered the widespread production of electric cars during the late 1990s and 2000s are discussed in the documentary film Who Killed the Electric Car?.
The California program was designed by CARB to reduce air pollution and not specifically to promote electric vehicles. Under pressure from various manufactures, CARB replaced the zero emissions requirement with a combined requirement of a very small number of ZEVs to promote research and development, and a much larger number of partial zero-emissions vehicles (PZEVs), an administrative designation for a super ultra low emissions vehicle (SULEV), which emits about 10% of the pollution of ordinary low emissions vehicles and are also certified for zero evaporative emissions. While effective in reaching the air pollution goals projected for the zero emissions requirement, the market effect was to permit the major manufacturers to quickly terminate their electric car programs and crush the vehicles.
See also
- Battery electric vehicle
- Electric car
- Electric vehicle
- Government incentives for plug-in electric vehicles
- List of modern production plug-in electric vehicles
- Electric vehicle industry in India
- Neighborhood electric vehicle
- Plug-in electric vehicle
- Renewable energy by country
References
External links
- Driving Electrification - A Global Comparison of Fiscal Incentive Policy for Electric Vehicles, International Council on Clean Transportation, May 2014
- Global EV Outlook 2013 - Understanding the Electric Vehicle Landscape to 2020, International Energy Agency (IEA), April 2013
- Hybrid and Electric Vehicles - The Electric Drive Gains Traction (See section C, overview by country), IA-HEV, International Energy Agency, May 2013
- Plug-In Electric Vehicles: A Case Study of Seven Markets (Norway, Netherlands, California, United States, France, Japan, and Germany), UC Davis, October 2014.
- Shades of Green - Electric Cars' Carbon Emissions Around the Globe, Shrink that Footprint, February 2013.
- The Norwegian EV success continues, Norwegian Electric Vehicle Association, June 2016.