PEV registrations cross 40,000 unit mark in France

Electric and plug-in hybrid car registrations have crossed the 40,000 unit milestone in France. The latest data from Avere shows growth in all segments this November.

An exact 2,166 electric cars found new buyers in France this November, according to Avere France. That’s a moderate 23.8 percent more than in the same month last year. More rapid growth could be seen in the plug-in hybrid segment, where the organisation counted 1,266 registrations, an increase by 207.3 percent.

And thus, the milestone of 40,000 registered electric and plug-in hybrid cars since the beginning of 2016 in France has been reached. 22,184 new private electric vehicles have been registered so far in 2017, an increase of + 17.2% compared to 18,932 over the same period in 2016 and amount to more than 40,000 PEV registered in the past two years.

Private French buyers prefer small cars, different from Norway, where Tesla regularly makes it on top of the best-sellers list. In France however, that place is continuously occupied by the Renault Zoe and sales remained steady compared to October with 776 units sold in November this year. That is 46.4% of the market and the Model S is on place 5.

The electric Smart ForTwo comes second in this segment with 163 registrations, its best score in 2017. Daimler benefits from the slowdown in Nissan sales as buyers expect the new generation Leaf to arrive in France in early 2018. The third position belongs to the BMW i3 but note that apart from the Zoe, all other EV range in the two-digit realm when it comes to sales.

So while 40,000 may be a milestone given the current state of sales, Europe’s second most populous country could still do better in EV sales. It remains to be seen if initiatives like Paris’ bid to ban all ICE’s by 2030 may give France a push. The government has been trying hard lately as it adds another 2,500 euros to the existing plug-in grant of 6,000 euros. The stated aim is to remove 100,000 gas guzzlers from French roads next year. Bonne chance!

avere-france.org (in French)