Sales of hybrid cars surge in Europe, confirming importance of sustainable liquid fuels

European new-car buyers continue to favour petrol and hybrid vehicles, according to the latest figures from the EU automotive industry. As these cars will be on Europe’s roads until well beyond 2035, it’s more important than ever that renewable ethanol – which reduces GHG emissions from petrol and hybrid cars by more than 78% on average compared to fossil petrol – play a role in EU transport decarbonisation.

Sales of hybrid cars surged by 33.1% in April, according to ACEA, the European car industry association, while sales of battery electric vehicles rose by 14.8% and held steady at a 12% market share. Sales of petrol cars also increased in April by 7.3%, ACEA said, driven by double-digit gains in key markets such as Spain, Germany and Italy.

Altogether, sales of petrol, hybrid and plug-in hybrid cars – which all run on liquid fuel – accounted for more than 71% of new car sales in April. More than ever, this underlines the importance of renewable ethanol for displacing fossil fuel in these vehicles.

Opening up to the contribution of renewable fuels as early as possible will not only help broaden the range of solution for all EU citizens and preserve affordability of mobility, but also lead to faster emission reduction.