New electric cars are now more popular than diesels in Europe

For the first time, new-car registrations in Europe have seen electric vehicles overtake diesel-powered cars.

Data from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) shows electric cars have surged from 10.7 per cent to 15.1 per cent of car registrations in June – behind petrol vehicles with 36.3 per cent, and hybrids with 24.3 per cent of the market share.

In Australia, electric vehicles made up 7.0 per cent of all new cars sold in July.

Diesels, meanwhile, made up just 13.4 per cent of new cars registered in Europe, while plug-in hybrids trailed with just 7.9 per cent.

The popularity of diesel continues to decline across the region – with new registrations down 9.4 per cent in the month of June – despite continued growth in Germany and Romania (up 10.3 and 22.4 per cent respectively), as well as in other central European markets.

Between January and June, new car registrations for electric vehicles grew by almost 54 per cent across Europe.

Year-to-date, new electric-vehicle sales grew by 136.4 per cent in Australia.