Sales of electric cars in Europe overtook diesel models for the first time in December, preliminary estimates have shown, as drivers continued to choose subsidised emissions-free vehicles over those reliant on a fuel that was tarnished by the 2015 Volkswagen emissions scandal.
More than a fifth of new cars sold across 18 European markets, including the UK, were powered exclusively by batteries, according to data compiled for the Financial Times by independent auto analyst Matthias Schmidt, while diesel cars, including diesel hybrids, accounted for less than 19 per cent of sales.
Thanks to generous government subsidies in Germany and elsewhere, as well as strict regulations introduced in 2020 that force EU manufacturers to sell more low-emissions vehicles, electric sales have been rising steadily.
The trend accelerated in the final quarter last year, as Tesla proved to be better able than rivals to adapt to bottlenecks in semiconductor supply chains by delivering a record 309,000 electric cars.
European carmakers also pushed sales of electric vehicles in December to reduce their fleet-wide carbon footprint and avoid fines from Brussels, after prioritising the production of the most profitable models — mainly heavily polluting SUVs — during the supply chain crisis.
As a result, 176,000 battery electric vehicles were sold in western Europe during that month — an all-time record — and more than 6 per cent higher than the number sold in December 2020. By comparison, nearly 160,000 diesels were sold in the last month of 2021.