ACEA: battery-electric cars accounted for 2.3% of EU fleet in 2024

The industry association ACEA has published a new report on the vehicle stock in Europe. While electric cars have already overtaken diesel in new registrations in many European countries, the 2024 analysis shows: It will be a long time before such figures are reflected in the overall vehicle stock.

The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) has published the latest edition of its report, ‘Vehicles on European Roads’, which focuses on data for 2024. As ACEA’s data collection process involves a slight delay, the figures only become available and analysable after some time. A key finding of the report is that, in 2024, 2.3% of passenger cars in the EU were battery-electric vehicles (BEVs). Additionally, 1.3% of all vans, 0.3% of all trucks, and 3.2% of all buses were battery-electric.

To compare, in the previous year’s report for 2023, ACEA recorded an electric share of 1.8% for passenger cars, 1.1% for vans, 0.1% for trucks, and 2.5% for buses. The figures are moving in the right direction, albeit slowly. This is unsurprising, given the long vehicle lifecycles and the still-high, though declining, registration numbers for diesel and petrol vehicles.

Petrol cars now account for only half of the fleet

Expanding the view to all passenger car powertrains, 49.2% of cars registered in the EU in 2024 were petrol-powered, while 28.4% ran on diesel. Battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) accounted for 2.3%, plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) for 1.4%, hybrids for 5%, and 2.7%of cars used liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). Other powertrains remained below the 1% mark. There are significant differences in the powertrain mix across EU fleets. Germany, as a major passenger car market, had 61% petrol cars and 3.3% BEVs. Meanwhile, some Scandinavian countries already boast a higher electric share in their fleets, such as Denmark (12.1%) and Sweden (7.2%). The Netherlands (6.1%) and Belgium (5.1%) also show above-average BEV adoption. Outside the EU, Norway stands out as a long-standing leader in electric mobility, with a BEV share of 28% in its fleet. Iceland (12.1%) also performs impressively.

Vans remain dominated by diesel

Among vans registered in the EU, 90% run on diesel, while 5.9% use petrol. This is followed by the aforementioned 1.3% BEVs, ahead of vans powered by liquefied petroleum gas (0.9%). Other powertrains are negligible. In Germany, 2.5% of all vans were fully electric in 2024, while the Netherlands reached 3.1% and Sweden 4.6%. Outside the EU, Norway again stands out with a 6.8% BEV share.

Turning to the truck fleet: diesel remains the dominant powertrain in this segment, accounting for 96.3%. Trucks running on natural gas make up 0.8%, petrol trucks 0.5%, and electric trucks 0.3%. Nearly 2% of trucks are classified as “unknown” by ACEA, meaning they cannot be categorised. In Germany, the electric share in 2024 was 0.7% – on par with natural gas trucks. Relatively speaking, Denmark (2%), the Netherlands (1.2%), and Sweden (1.1%) have a higher share of electric trucks in their fleets. Non-EU countries such as Norway (2.1%) and Switzerland (1.9%) also perform well in this regard.

Electric buses on the rise

In the bus sector, 89% of vehicles in the EU still ran on diesel in 2024. Electric buses accounted for 3.1%, natural gas buses for 4.5%, and hybrid buses (excluding PHEVs) for 2.6%. Germany matched the EU average with a 3.2% electric share but had a higher proportion of hybrids (6.9%) and fewer natural gas vehicles (1%) on its roads. In contrast, electric buses are already significantly more prevalent in the Netherlands (21.4%), Denmark (15.7%), and Sweden (10.2%). As a comparatively small market, Luxembourg achieved a 23.3% electric share in its fleet in 2024. Outside the EU, Norway (11.7%) and Switzerland (8.2%) also show strong electric bus adoption. Notably, the UK – despite its strong BEV registration figures in recent years – still had only a 4.1% electric share in its bus fleet in 2024. The explanation: the country keeps its (diesel) buses in service for a long time. According to ACEA, the average age of buses in the UK is 15.9 years, compared to an EU average of 12.2 years.

This highlights that ACEA’s ‘Vehicles on European Roads’ report not only analyses the powertrain mix in fleets but also the average age of vehicles across European nations, vehicle density (vehicles per 1,000 inhabitants), the number of vehicles per household, and the average distance travelled in 2024. Here are the most interesting findings at a glance:

In 2024, there were 256 million cars on EU roads, representing a 1.4% increase compared to the previous year.
The share of plug-in vehicles (BEVs and PHEVs) in the EU passenger car fleet rose from 3% to 3.7% in 2024.
There are 31.1 million vans on EU roads, a 1.9% increase. Half of all vans are concentrated in three countries: France (6.5 million), Italy (4.6 million), and Spain (4.2 million).
There are 6.2 million trucks on EU roads, a 0.9% increase. Nearly half of all trucks are registered in three countries: Germany (969,920), Italy (988,165), and Poland (841,545).
Currently, around 700,000 buses are on EU roads, a 1.8% increase. More than half of all buses are registered in Italy (101,303), France (94,542), Germany (85,559), and Poland (80,564).
In 2024, the EU averaged 570 passenger cars and 85 commercial vehicles and buses per 1,000 inhabitants. Italy had the highest number of cars per 1,000 inhabitants (701), while Latvia had the lowest (418).
Passenger cars in the EU were, on average, 12.7 years old. Greece had the oldest fleet (17.8 years), while Luxembourg had the youngest (8.2 years).
The average age of vans in the EU was 12.9 years. Among the largest EU markets, Italy had the oldest van fleet (15 years), closely followed by Spain (14.7 years) and France (11.2 years).
Trucks in the EU were, on average, 14 years old. Greece had the oldest truck fleet (22.9 years), while Austria (7.4 years) and Luxembourg (7.7 years) had the youngest.
The average age of buses in the EU was 12.2 years. Romanian buses were the oldest in the region (17.8 years), closely followed by Greece (17.2 years). Only six EU countries had bus fleets younger than 10 years.
In Denmark, nearly 40% of households did not own a car, while 31% of French households owned two cars. The average annual distance travelled in the surveyed countries was 12,349 kilometres.

acea.auto, acea.auto (Full Report, PDF)