Are sales of eco-friendly cars in Europe up 49%? Are we on the right track?

According to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, sales of vehicles powered by alternative fuels rose in the first quarter of the year by 37.6% in the EU, totaling 212,945 cars sold.

Hybrid vehicles showed the strongest growth, with a 61.2% increase over the same period last year, and 111,006 units sold. Electric vehicles (including plug-in hybrids) grew their sales by 29.9%, from the 36,322 cars sold in the first quarter of 2016 to 47,196 units this year. This means that 100% electric cars achieved 49% growth (24,592 units), and plug-in hybrids grew by 13%, with 21,644 vehicles sold.

Spain has the highest growth in sales of alternative-fuel vehicles, at 87.4%Spain was the country that recorded the largest increase in sales of vehicles powered by alternative fuels, with 87.4% over the first quarter of last year, followed by Germany (67.5%), the United Kingdom (29.9%), France (24.8%) and Italy (17.2%). The growth in Italy is largely due to the increase in LPG vehicles (liquefied petroleum gas), while in the other markets growth is mainly driven by the rise in electric vehicle sales.

According to the latest report from the European Alternative Fuels Observatory, the Renault Zoe has been the best-selling model, followed by the Nissan Leaf, the BMW i3 and the Tesla Model S and X. The Renault Zoe accounts for a 14.7% market share of electric cars in Europe. A few months ago we already saw that sales of electric cars in 2016 had grown by more than 50% in Spain.

But this has not happened only on our continent: the US market showed 49% growth in electric car sales, which amounted to as many as 40,700 units sold in the first quarter of 2017.

In addition, vehicle manufacturers have asked the European Commission to reduce or eliminate value-added tax (VAT) on electric cars, as a measure to promote this technology. If this proposal goes ahead, sales of vehicles powered by alternative fuels could increase even further.