Plug-In Electric Car Sales In France Improved By 28% In October 2018

Nov 11, 2018 at 7:14am ET

By: Mark Kane

Renault ZOE takes 61% of passenger all-electric car sales in France

Sales of plug-in electric cars in France increased in October by 27.7% to 4,630 registrations thanks to higher demand for all-electric models, as plug-in hybrids did see a small step backward.

Market share of passenger plug-ins amounted to nearly 2.2%, which means that every 50th car sold is rechargeable.

Passenger BEVs: 2,861 registrations (up 63.7%) at 1.65% market share
Passenger PHEVs: 936 registrations (down 11.3%) at 0.54% market share
Light commercial BEVs: 833 registrations (up 1.1%)
Total: 4,630

In total, over 36,000 plug-ins were sold in France over the first 10 months of 2018, which doesn't translate to high growth compared to a year ago (just several percent).

Renault ZOE, with strong 1,745 registrations (up 125%) was, of course, the best-selling EV, but also took 61% of the all-electric passenger market, followed by the Nissan LEAF at 410. Other models are far away as the third best - smart fortwo electric - reached just 108 registrations. We could even say that ZOE in France outdistanced other EVs over the years like the Tesla Model 3 did recently in the U.S.

The two important new models - Jaguar I-PACE and Hyundai Kona Electric - had respectively 40 and 36 registrations. Tesla, on the other hand, noted just 30 (23 Model S and 7 Model X).