The global car market

The cars sold in the world were about 79 million in 2018, about 75 million in 2019 and the impact of the coronavirus has further decrease  the  sales in 2020.

In Europe about 12 million cars were registered (-24%); China also fell, with about 20 million registrations with a 4% drop.

European car market

In particular, the European car market is evolving, just look at the changes in the market shares of the various vehicle types compared to the previous year.

An example is the share of diesel which is constantly decreasing: 44% in 2017, to 35.9% in 2018 and 30.5% in 2019 to the partial benefit of petrol engines, but above all of  APV cars.

BEV and PHEV vehicles: global situation

The global situation with regard to BEV and PHEV vehicles is a rapidly growing sector.

In particular, input in the EU is given by the regulations on emissions and in some countries by incentives, so much so that Europe overtakes China (after 5 years of run-up) on the sales of electric cars.

APV and ECV

APV: APV stands for “alternative powered vehicles” and includes vehicles that use fuels other than diesel and gasoline.
ECV stands for “electrically-chargeable vehicles” which includes cars:

  • BEV (battery electric vehicles);
  • EREV (extended-range electric vehicles);
  • FCEV (fuel cell electric vehicles);
  • PHEV (plug-in hybrid electric vehicles).

The situation across Europe

In recent years, APV car registrations in the European Union have grown significantly, in particular electric charging vehicles (ECVs), with a notable percentage increase, particularly for 2020:

  • BEV +117% (about  540.000 units)
  • PHEV: +262% (about  507.00 units)
  • ECV (total): +169% (about 1.046.000 units)

The European countries that reach the highest numbers for new ECV car registrations are Germany with nearly 395,000 units, France with 185,719, Holland with approximately 89,000 and Italy with approximately 60,000.

 “Pure” (BEV), the European Union recorded a +117% (2020 compared to 2019) with about 540,000 units.

Germany always leads the EU ranking with 195,000 units, followed by France and the Netherlands with approximately 111,000 and 73,000 respectively.

The boom of home recharging

The electric vehicle charging infrastructure continues to expand: in 2019 there were around 7.3 million chargers worldwide, of which around 6.5 million were private.

We mean slow systems for light vehicles in homes, and workplaces. Convenience, cost effectiveness and a variety of support policies are the main factors that determine the prevalence of private charging.

Home recharging can be the solution even in the case of a supply contract of only 3kW of power, thanks to intelligent anti black-out systems.