The transport sector is among the largest contributors to EU greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, reducing transport emissions vital to meeting the EU’s climate neutrality objectives.
From 2025 onwards, Regulation (EU) 2019/631 sets stricter EU-wide CO2 fleet targets: a 15% reduction by 2025 for both cars and vans and, from 2030, a 50% reduction target for vans and a 55% reduction target for cars, all relative to a 2021 baseline. It also sets a zero-CO2 emission target for new cars and vans from 2035 onwards. A significant increase in the uptake of electric vehicles will be needed to achieve these goals.
Electric cars, which include battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), are gradually penetrating the EU market. There has been a steady increase in the number of new electric car registrations from 600 in 2010, to about 1,74 million in 2021, accounting for 18% of new registrations. These figures continued to grow in 2022, when almost 22% of newly registered passenger cars were electric. BEVs accounted for 12.2% of total new car registrations in 2022, while PHEVs represented 9.4%.
The average mass of BEVs is 1,800kg, while PHEVs are slightly heavier, with an average mass of around 1,900kg. According to provisional 2022 data, these vehicles’ average energy consumption was roughly 166 and 177Wh/km, respectively. BEVs registered in 2022 had an average electric range (measured at type-approval) of 393 km, while PHEVs, in electric mode, had an average range of 61km.
In 2022, around 56,500 electric vans were sold in the EU-27, representing 5.5% of the market share and an increase of around 2.0 percentage points from 2020. The majority of electric vans sold were BEVs.
However, despite huge growth in recent years, BEVs represents only 1.2% of the European cars fleet. Further growth in Europe’s electric vehicle fleet is required to help the EU meet emissions reduction targets and ensure progress towards its 2050 objective of being climate neutral.
Supportive Information
This indicator provides information on electric vehicle numbers, both in absolute terms and as a proportion of total new vehicle registrations. Two types of electric vehicle are included in the indicator: battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). BEVs are powered solely by an electric motor, using electricity stored in an on-board battery. The battery must be charged at a charging point connected to the local electricity grid. PHEVs are powered by an electric motor and an internal combustion engine designed to work either together or separately. The on-board battery can be charged from the grid and the combustion engine can support the electric motor when higher operating power is required or when battery charge is low.Methodology
Methodology for indicator calculation
The number of electric vehicles (BEVs and PHEVS) as a proportion of the total vehicle fleet for each vehicle type (passenger cars, light commercial vehicles) is calculated by dividing the number of electric vehicles by the total fleet for each vehicle type.Policy/environmental relevance
Justification for indicator selection
Increasingly stringent regulations have resulted in the gradual introduction and promotion of more fuel-efficient, less polluting vehicles. New registrations of electric vehicles are an indirect indication of the level of improvement in road-transport fuel efficiency and pollutant emissions. The overall objective of this specific indicator is to monitor the penetration of electric vehicles in the market and, hence, to be able to estimate progress towards environmental targets.
Context description
Transport represents almost a quarter of Europe’s greenhouse gas emissions. EU legislation sets mandatory emission targets for new cars and for new vans. This has resulted in the gradual improvement of the fuel-efficiency of vehicles, as well as a higher share of zero- and low-emissions vehicles, such as electric vehicles.
New registrations of electic vehicles are an indirect indication of the level of improvement in road-transport fuel efficiency. The overall objective of this specific indicator is to monitor the penetration of electric vehicles in the market and, hence, to be able to estimate progress towards environmental targets.
Targets
No target sets until 2025.
The specific CO2 emission target of a manufacturer (Regulation (EU) 2019/631) will be relaxed if its share of zero or low emitting vehicles registered in a given year exceeds the 15% from 2025 on and 35% from 2030 on. Please see also indicator TERM017.
Related policy documents
- Regulation (EU) 2019/631. Regulation (EU) 2019/631 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 is setting CO2 emission performance standards for new passenger cars and for new light commercial vehicles, and repealing Regulations (EC) No 443/2009 and (EU) No 510/2011.