The number of pure electric vehicles sold in 28 European markets in 2021 was 1205,387, an increase of 63%. According to the data, this is 3.4 times higher than in 2019. Over the past decade, battery electric vehicles have grown faster than other segments, including SUVs.
The market share of pure electric vehicles in the European market soared from 1.3% in 2018 to 2.3% in 2019 and 6.2% in 2020. Such rapid growth has now made pure electric vehicles gain a foothold in Europe, and despite the challenges of 2021, their popularity continues to grow, accounting for 10.3% of the market share in 2021.
With the surge in demand for battery electric vehicles in 2021, two issues have arisen. First, as more and more consumers see it as a viable alternative to traditional models of the internal combustion engine, the continued provision of generous government subsidies has led to increased demand. Secondly, due to the global shortage of semiconductors, there has been a phenomenon of insufficient supply.
Europe is the second largest market for electric vehicles in the world
Last year, Europe consolidated its position as the world's second largest pure electric vehicle market in terms of sales volume and market share, after China's pure electric vehicle market share of 12.3%. Although the size of the European pure electric vehicle market is not as large as that of China, the electric vehicles provided by the European market are more expensive than those in China.
European automakers have also begun to introduce pure electric vehicles, and in 2018, European manufacturers launched 28 different types of battery electric vehicles. 33 models were released in 2019, 57 in 2020 and 74 in 2021.
With the increasing number of battery electric vehicles, Tesla no longer has a dominant position in the market. Two years ago, with the launch of the Model 3, Tesla had a 31% share of the pure electric vehicle market. In 2021, Tesla was the most popular pure electric vehicle, with 167,549 units in 28 european markets, but its market share fell to 13.9%.
In 2021, the Volkswagen Group leads the market, with six brands launching a large number of pure electric vehicles. Volkswagen surpasses rival Stellantis with a 14.5% market share. It was followed by Tesla with a market share of 13.9%. The Volkswagen Group leads the country in 19 markets. It was followed by Stellantis, leading in 4 countries. Next, Renault Group occupies three markets, tesla and Hyundai motor occupy one.