How is the EV-volution progressing for the EU7 – Still plugging-in or already fully charged?

So there is no getting around it despite the automotive industry struggling thorough the pandemic, 2020 was a positive year for EVs but has that continued at the same pace in 2021? Has the demand ebbed away or are consumers being drawn back to the fossil fuel counterparts?

Apples vs Apples and not pears

We can see the markets of the EU7 in recovery mode with almost all countries and the corresponding market segments showing positives over 2020, not a surprise given the multiple problems that came as a result of the pandemic. For this reason, we will also include some comparisons with 2019 in order to give a better overall understanding. As a quick overall view, we see EU-7 countries showing a 33.2% increase over 2020 figures May year-to-date. True Fleet leads the recovery charge up 40.2%, with the welcome sight of RAC following with 2^nd highest recovery percentage, up by 35.9%. Private then follows before the Dealer and Manufacturer channel. In comparison to 2019 figures True Fleet is again fairing best down by only 12.6% while the Private market is down by 28%.

More plugging-in and less plugging up

One thing that came as a result of the lockdowns and work from home policies has been less cars on the road (especially during rush-hours) but that seemingly has not stopped the PHEVs or Electric cars from capitalizing and registering over 580,000 cars so far this year. For the 2021 vs 2020 comparison the EU7 countries show an increase of 262.8% for PHEVs and 128.8% for Electric cars and when we look at 2019 a staggering + 641.1% and 250% respectively. Worth noting here is that it has been mostly the Private market driving Electric volume while for PHEV it has been True Fleets. Petrol and Diesel are also showing increases for the 2021 vs 2020, though much more muted with a 23.8% and 8.0% respectively. However, compared with 2019 both show big drops, -35.4% for Petrol and -44.3% for Diesel equating to almost 2,000,000 less registrations in total.

Going big or Going home: Why not both? (it is the most convenient place to charge after all)  Now there is possibly a stifling effect in the 2021 figures, alongside the COVID recovery, but this will be being felt by all Fueltypes and that is the worldwide chip shortage. So, while the industry has seemingly begun to pivot toward a more electrified model lineup, this is now also causing problems and while there is still an issue with charging infrastructure governments appear to be moving in the right direction. Perhaps we could get a ludicrous speed for legislation surrounding office charging! What is clear is that the EV-volution is increasing, people while still concerned with range are adopting EVs and adapting to plugging-in. Final figures on just how well this is going in the EU7, as of YTD May 2019 PHEVs equated to 0.77% and Electric 1.4% of all registrations. In 2021 this is 7.8% and 6.7% respectively, could we see a combined 25% by 2022, possibly, it could all come down to just where the OEMs decide to place their chips – Electrified or Full Combustion