EU: Electric vehicles overtake diesel for first time

Brussels: Sales of new electric battery vehicles overtook diesel car purchases in Europe for the first time last month but activity is far from pre-pandemic levels, a lobby group said.

In June, the market share for cars running on electric batteries rose to 15.1%, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA), with more than 158,000 units sold in the EU.

Most EU markets recorded double or even triple-digit percentage gains, with heavyweights Germany, France and the Netherlands all posting increases of more than 50%.

Petrol remained the new car fuel type with the largest market share at 36.3%, while hybrid electric vehicles were second at 24.3%.

Automakers and consumers are looking to steer away from vehicles running on polluting fossil fuels in a bid to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change.