European EV sales are surging ahead, despite steep declines for Tesla

There is a significant reshaping of the electric vehicle market occurring in Europe.

Over the past year, the share of pure battery electric vehicles in western Europe has jumped to 18.4 per cent, from 14.3 per cent in the previous 12 months. But there is a big reshaping in the market shares of the biggest car companies, with VW taking a commanding lead, and one time market leader now falling back into the pack.

These graphs from leading European car analyst Schmidt Automotive illustrate clearly the trends over the last five years.

Tesla was once the biggest seller of EVs in Europe, but by late 2020 had lost that mantle to VW and, briefly, to Stellantis. What followed was a surge in sales across all brands, including the new Chinese entrants. But things have started to change in the last two years.

Tesla sales started to decline just over a year ago, after a brief boost from the refreshed Model 3, and its market share has fallen further this year, with the added complexity of Elon Musk’s political machinations clearly having an impact.

This is particularly the case in the EU’s biggest car market, Germany, where Tesla once sold one in every five EVs, but now manages less than 1 in 10, and where there has yet to be seen any benefit from the Model Y refresh.