Helped by a package of incentives for owners, Norway continues to be the biggest market for electric and plug-in vehicles. Registrations totalled 16,990 units during the first six months of the year, comprising 22.8% of all vehicles sold in the Norwegian market. Of the 72,742 plug-ins registered across the EU and EFTA, almost a quarter (23.4%) went to Norway.

However, the largest volume growth was in the UK, where 14,838 plug-ins were registered in the first half of 2015 – an uplift of 10,742 units (262.3%) year on year, largely driven by the popularity of the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV.

From the fifth largest EV and PHEV market, by volume, in 2014, behind Norway (10,231), the Netherlands (8,273), Germany (5,807) and France (4,968) last year (4,096) the UK is now Europe’s second-largest. France and Germany are the third and fourth largest markets, each recording significant rises in registrations year on year.

Hybrid technology, which is more established, recorded a 21% uplift to 118,195 registrations in the first half of the year. By volume, France continues to be the largest market for hybrids in the EU and EFTA region, and was also the country with the biggest growth in registrations – a rise of 6,562 units. The UK is the second largest, at 23,065 units, up 3,850 year on year and significantly ahead of Italy with 12,937 registrations.

Overall, ACEA data shows a significant shift towards plug-ins. Omitting LPG and CNG-powered vehicles, 29.6% of the 138,813 alternatively-powered models sold in the first six months of 2014 had fully electric or plug-in hybrid drivetrains. In 2015, 37.9% of the 190,436 alternatively-fuelled vehicles registered feature a plug-in drivetrain.