Eurostat: The number of registrations of new full-electric cars is increasing

The share of new full-electric passenger cars among registrations reached 14.6% in 2023, marking a continuation of the rapid increase in the adoption of electric vehicles in the EU, Eurostat said in a press release issued at the end of last week. According to Eurostat data, 1.5 million new full-electric cars were registered in the European Union last year, bringing the total number to 4.5 million such cars on European roads.

In terms of car stock, as of 31 December 2023, battery-only electric cars represented 1.7% of all EU cars, with significant variations between EU countries.

In Denmark, battery electric cars represent 7.1% of all cars. Similarly high shares were observed in Sweden (5.9%), Luxembourg (5.1%) and the Netherlands (5%).

In contrast, 14 countries recorded shares below 1%, with the lowest shares recorded in Cyprus, Greece and Poland, each with 0.2%.

Our country is among the European states at the bottom of the list, with a percentage of approximately 0.5%. However, according to the data of the Association of Car Manufacturers and Importers, in 2023, more than 15,000 new electric cars were sold in our country, the best sales being Dacia Spring and Tesla models (Model Y and Model 3).

APIA's forecast at the start of 2024 indicated more than 19,000 cars for the current year, but the forecast was revised in the middle of the current year. According to her, unfortunately, last year's downward trend in our country regarding the registration of new full electric cars will continue in 2024. APIA representatives recently stated that the electric car market will register a 20% decrease this year and will also include the more expensive vehicles, not just the cheaper vehicles. Practically, in 2024 only 12,500 full-electric cars will be sold in Romania, which in the opinion of Dan Vardie, president of APIA, is a dramatic decrease compared to last year.

APIA representatives claim that the rapid decrease in the value of Rabla Plus eco-tickets offered by the state for people who want to buy electric cars is to blame. That is why they propose a gradual, annual reduction in the value of eco-stickers, so that it goes from almost 10,000 euros in 2023 to zero in 2030. Such a gradual decrease, announced several years in advance, would give a predictability to buyers who could decide when they can buy the car and depending on the subsidy and how much money they have at a given time. We remind you that the Romanian authorities decided at the beginning of 2024 to halve the subsidy for electric cars in Rabla Plus, to 5,100 euros, and this can be seen more and more clearly in the sales figures, in June they were halved compared to June 2023.

Laurenţiu Neculaescu, the president of the Environmental Fund Agency, announced last week that this year the allocation for the Rabla program for the purchase of electric cars has allocated one billion lei and that together with the car industry and related associations, it will develop a multi-year program for the period 2025-2030 regarding state support for the purchase of electric cars.