Electricity demand in transportation is expected to increase in the future. In 2021, the number of battery-only electric passenger cars in the EU countries reached 1.9 million, an increase of 76% compared to 2020 when there were 1.1 million, according to figures from Eurostat. The largest increases were recorded in Finland (+136%), Croatia (+127%) and Italy (+122%). At the other end of the scale, Czechia (+12%) and Spain (+15%) recorded the lowest rates of increase.
The EU members with more than 100 thousand electric passenger vehicles were Germany (618,000), France (403,000), the Netherlands (245,000), Italy (118,000) and Sweden (110,000).
The highest rate of increase in battery-only electric passenger cars in the period 2013-2021 was noted between 2019 and 2020 (+83%), followed by the increase in 2021 compared with 2020. The share of battery-only electric passenger cars in the total number of passenger cars grew from 0.02% in 2013 to 0.76% 2021.
The EU electricity consumption in road transport (which includes electricity used for electric trolley buses and to charge electric vehicles), also experienced a notable increase in 2021 compared with 2020 (+80%).
In absolute terms, electricity consumption in road transport reached 6 910 gigawatt hours (GWh) in the EU in 2021, which corresponds to 0.3% of final consumption. Across the EU countries, the highest consumption was recorded in Sweden (1 433 GWh), followed by Germany (1 386 GWh) and the Netherlands (1 071 GWh). On the other hand, Cyprus (0 GWh), Slovenia (4 GWh) and Malta (5 GWh) recorded very low electricity consumption for road transport.
The overall share of battery-only electric passenger cars is expected to grow considerably over the coming years in the run up to the 2035 EU ban on combustion engine cars. The ban is linked to the Sustainable Development Indicator on reducing CO2 emissions from new passenger cars.
Overall, the passenger car fleet in almost all of the EU members has grown over the last five years, reaching a total of 253 million passenger cars in 2021 (+17% compared with 2013). The highest share of the newest passenger cars (2 years and less) among the EU members was registered in Luxembourg (19% of all passenger cars in Luxembourg), followed by Sweden (16%), France, Austria and Belgium (all 15%). Meanwhile, the oldest passenger cars (20 years or older) were registered in Poland (41%), Estonia (33%) and Finland (29%).
