EV sales in France cross 40,000 unit milestone in 2017

The French have cracked two thresholds of e-mobility this year. First, more than 40,000 plug-in vehicles made it into private garages and secondly, PEVs now account for almost 1.5% of all sales.

“Exactement” 41,724 plug-in vehicles found buyers in France throughout 2017. Data from Avere’s French chapter specifies that most were all-electric, 30,921 to be precise. The remaining 10,803 sales came in the form of PHEVs.

Last December alone saw the registration of 3,338 BEVs and 1.498 new PHEVs. As usual, Renault’s Zoe defends her spot at the top of the EV sales with 15,245 units sold over the course of last year, a plus of (+ 34%).

With this increase, Renault may have benefitted directly from a decrease in Nissan Leaf sales that were down 38 percent in 2017. This was mainly due to the awaited arrival of the Leaf with a bigger battery and this year is likely to see sales increase again for the Japanese EV with order books being open since October.

The third place is occupied by BMW. Registrations for the i3 were up 45%, amounting to 1,954 units, of which 1,073 are equipped with a range extender.

For PHEV sales, we expect them to further decrease given that the government in Paris decided to slash the subsidies for plug-in hybrids reportedly.

On a whole though, France’s policies favour electric cars, particularly so in the capital where the Mayor Anne Hidalgo recently topped up the federal incentive with additional funding, particularly for professionals. Said grants also apply to electric buses and taxis.

Over the whole of 2017, electric models accounted for 1.47% of new passenger car registrations across France. Europe’s second most populous country aims to add 100,000 new electric cars this year alone. Allez, doublez.

avere-france.org (in French)