According to data from JATO Dynamics February saw an increase in the sale of electric vehicles. Although their market share remained marginal at 1.9 per cent, their volume increased by an impressive 92 per cent to 20,000 registrations.

This increase can be attributed to the introduction of new models – most notably the Tesla Model 3. The hotly anticipated car excelled during its first full month on the European market and became the best-selling EV. In fact, the Model 3 quickly outsold other big players like the Nissan LEAF and Renault ZOE, despite being more expensive and only available for a short amount of time. Felipe Munoz, JATO’s global analyst, commented, “The performance of the Model 3 is remarkable, given we normally don’t see this kind of result until four or five months after a new car has hit the roads.”

It’s also notable that most of the Model 3’s volume in February came from private registrations, which breaks the usual trend of a new vehicle’s volume being made up of business/fleet registrations. But even more remarkably, the Tesla Model 3 achieved another record in February, as it became the top-selling premium midsize sedan in Europe – outperforming the popular Mercedes C-Class, Audi A4 and BMW 3-Series. “As we’re seeing in the US, Tesla is also shaking up the European market. Its long-lasting impact will depend on how quickly the German premium makers, Volvo and JLR react to the arrival of the Model 3 to Europe and how quickly they can bring in their own midsize electric cars,” continued Munoz.