Volkswagen reported falling electric car sales in the first quarter
Electric car sales plummeted across Europe last month as demand dried up despite the EU’s push to ban petrol and diesel vehicles by the middle of the next decade.
Sales of battery-powered cars dropped by 11.3pc as demand in Germany, Europe’s largest economy, plunged by 28.9pc, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA).
Only 13pc of new registrations were electric, down from 13.9pc in March last year and down from 14.6pc for all of 2023.
Sales of electric cars have stalled despite Europe’s plans to ban the sale of new internal combustion engine cars by 2035.
Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz and Tesla have all reported falling electric vehicle sales in the first three months of the year.
It came as new vehicle registrations overall fell by 5.3pc across the European Union to 1m last month.
The ACEA has blamed the fall in sales in March on the early Easter holidays.
Hybrid cars accounted for 29pc of the market in March, up from 24.4pc in the same month a year ago.
Petrol vehicle sales also decreased by 10.2pc, with notable reductions in France, Spain and Germany.
The downturn in the diesel market was even more severe, with an 18.5pc drop in March.
