Europe’s EV market hits record high but a new China threat awaits

Fully electric cars grabbed their biggest-ever slice of the European market in May, as government support, cheaper-running costs and steeper petrol prices pushed more buyers toward battery power.

Across 17 European markets, battery electric vehicle (BEV) registrations climbed 34.4% compared with a year earlier, hitting 212,387 cars. That gave fully electric models a 23.6% share of the market, according to figures from E-Mobility Europe, New Automotive and Fier Automotive.

The May jump came after similar gains earlier in the year, with registrations up 34.1% in April and 51.3% in March. The trend points to a steady move away from petrol and diesel.

“Consumers and governments alike are responding to Europe’s energy security challenge, with every new electric car sold cutting fuel costs and permanently reducing oil imports,” said Chris Heron, Secretary General of E-Mobility Europe.

Local carmakers still held seven of the 10 top-selling BEV models, even as Chinese brands pushed harder for sales as reported by Cryptopolitan previously. France led the big economies with a 29.5% electric share in May.

Germany reached 25%, and its BEV registrations rose 41% over the first five months of the year. Italy was the fastest grower, with registrations doubling so far this year on the back of fresh subsidies. The Nordic countries and the Benelux region stayed ahead of the pack, with electric cars taking 78.7% of the market in Denmark, 49.6% in Finland, 41.2% in Sweden, 41.3% in the Netherlands and 36.8% in Belgium.

Hedge Funds Target Carmakers as Trucks Stay Strong

While carmakers feel the heat, hedge funds have been placing bets that European auto stocks will fall further, truckmakers have so far held firm. The shift to electric in road freight has long been seen as slower than in passenger cars. But that may be changing fast.

Daimler Truck, the world’s biggest maker of heavy lorries by sales, is celebrating the 130th anniversary of the first motorized truck, sold by its founder in 1896. Now Chinese rivals are crashing the party with electric models that threaten the diesel trucks pioneered by Gottlieb Daimler.

The old thinking was simple. Heavy trucks would switch to electric slowly because of heavy batteries, weak charging networks and high upfront costs. Chinese makers are testing that idea. Global sales of electric heavy freight trucks, those weighing 15 tonnes or more, almost tripled last year to roughly 230,000, the International Energy Agency reported. Most of that came from China, where electric models made up 28% of heavy truck sales.

Last Friday, China’s transport ministry set a target for “new energy” trucks to make up 40% of heavy truck sales by 2030, and a fifth of those on the road. CATL chair Zeng Yuqun has gone further, predicting electric trucks will pass half the market by 2028.

Beijing has named the sector a national priority, partly to cut reliance on imported oil after the Strait of Hormuz crisis rattled energy markets. Plans include 30,000km of “zero-carbon” highway corridors and 3,000 charging and battery-swapping stations.

About half a dozen Chinese truckmakers plan to enter Europe this year, where electric models made up under 2% of heavy truck sales in 2024, around 5,000 units, per the International Council on Clean Transportation. EU rules will help: average truck emissions must drop at least 90% from 2019 levels by 2040.

European truckmakers won little

Their shares, though, have done well. Daimler is up 41% since its December 2021 spin-off, against a 36% fall for Mercedes-Benz (ETR: MBG) and a 52% slump for Volkswagen (ETR: VOW).

In the US, fewer than 4,000 electric heavy trucks have been sold so far, says Wood Mackenzie. That could shift with Tesla’s Semi and China’s Windrose, both expected to cost under $300,000, against more than $400,000 today. Fleet owners could recoup the gap in about three years.

Stephen Meersman of Zenobē, which just raised £980mn in debt, warned incumbents not to drag their feet. “Frankly, they’ve got to get on with it, or they’re going to have a real problem on their hands.”