There is nothing better than a continuous stream of positive sales news from the European plug-in electric car market, which in January 2020 was reinforced by a new wave of all-electric and plug-in hybrid models, as well as necessity for many manufacturers to sell them in volume to meet stricter emission requirements.

EV Sales Blog reports a near-record 74,663 new passenger plug-in car registrations - 121% more than a year ago and the first three-digit growth rate since 2015!

Because the overall market declined by 7%, plug-in market share is now at a record high at 6.6%, compared to 3.6% for the 12-months of 2019.

Plug-In Electric Car Sales In Europe – January 2020

Currently, all-electric cars stand for 52% of total plug-in sales (compared to roughly two-thirds in 12-months of 2019). That's because plug-in hybrids rebounded and are growing much quicker - by 174% year-over-year, compared to 89% in the case of all-electric cars.

Most popular models

The model rank is quite interesting from the start of the year as there are many changes to what we saw in 2019.

First of all, the Renault ZOE set its new record of almost 10,000 sales (9,782), and was followed by another French model, the Peugeot e-208 (3,897). It's great to see that European consumers are so interested in small electric cars.

Then we see three well-known nameplates: outgoing, but at the same time experiencing a second youth Volkswagen e-Golf (3,296), Nissan LEAF (3,177) and Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV (3,149).

The biggest gain among manufacturers seems to be achieved by the PSA Group, which sold more than 12,000 plug-ins in January - according to the EV Sales Blog, PSA never was at 1,000, which clearly shows how much can change when big OEMs finally launch an EV offensive.

Top 20 YTD: