Global Plug-in Vehicle Sales Reached over 3,2 Million in 2020
by Roland Irle, EV-volumes.com2020 became a great year for plug-in vehicles, in the end. With only a few details still to be reported we are expecting global BEV+PHEV sales of 3,24 million, compared to 2,26 million for the year previous. What started with an unprecedented economic downturn during the 1st COVID-19 wave became a success story for EVs in Europe. Nearly 1,4 million BEVs and PHEVs were registered in Europe during 2020, 137 % more than in 2019, in a vehicle market that was down by 20 % year-on-year. It was the combination of new attractive models, incentive boosts by green recovery funds, the 95g CO2 mandate, much improved availability and intense promotion of EVs.
Europe has superseded China as the motor of EV growth. For the first time since 2015, EV sales in Europe have outpaced NEV sales in China. Europe is further ahead in terms of EV share: BEVs+PHEVs increased from 3,3 % 2019 to 10,2 % in 2020, counting the EU and EFTA countries, including UK. The NEV share in China increased from 5,1 % to 5,5 % during this period.
Outside Europe growth of EVs was slower, but still significant. China NEV sales recovered strongly during the 2nd half and were up by 12 % for the year. EV sales in USA increased by a meager 4 %, despite the sales start of the Tesla Model-Y. Fortunes varied in other markets, with declines in Japan, Canada and Australia, while increases in South Korea, Taiwan, India, Israel, UAE and Hong Kong outweighed these losses.
We think that these good news deserve an early reporting, even if the final numbers could see very minor changes below 0,5 %. We will enhance this post and follow up with more regional analysis as the results solidify. Stay tuned.
Europe Leads EV Up-take
EV sales in USA (+4 % y/y) outperformed the auto-market (-15 % y/y) mostly from the introduction of the Model-Y. Tesla extended its sector domination, with 62 % of all Plug-in Vehicle sales and 79 % of all BEV sales in the US coming from Tesla.
The losses in Japan continued, with broad based decreases, especially among domestic brands.
"Other" markets include Canada (47k sales, -7 %), South Korea (52k sales, +55 %), Taiwan 7k, +308 %) and many smaller EV markets around the world, some of them growing very fast in spite of adverse conditions.
Germany becomes the 2nd largest EV Market after China
Plug-in sales in Germany increased by 254 % over 2019, 191 % for BEVs and 351 % for PHEVs, witnessing the high representation of German OEM in PHEV variants. PHEVs stood for half of German plug-in vehicles sales; the global average for 2020 was 31 % PHEVs and 69 % BEVs. One out of eight global plug-in sales were in Germany last year.
Many European markets have doubled or tripled their EV sales vs 2019 and Europe captured 43 % of global EV sales in 2020 vs 26 % in 2019. The US fell further behind, volumes hinging on the capacity of Tesla and the commitments of the ZEV Alliance states. China NEV sales returned to normal in the 2nd half of 2020, reaching 240k units in December alone. The total for 2020 reflects the weak sales during the 1st half.
The overall picture is that global EV sales have returned to the S-Curve in terms of volume and are somewhat above trend in terms of share. For the ongoing year, we expect 4,6 million plug-in sales with higher growth in North America and China. Europe is not likely to repeat the 137 % increase of last year, but 2 million sales are within reach.
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