The car market in Europe is going through a turbulent period, with new car sales falling for the second consecutive month in September. Year-on-year, 4.2% fewer vehicles were sold in Europe, irrespective of powertrain type. Encouragingly, the share of EVs in total sales grew year-on-year in most European countries. In Belgium, Sweden, Portugal and Finland, battery electric cars have even overtaken petrol combustion engines. But while pure EVs already accounted for 19.1% of new sales in Europe, in Slovakia it was still only 2.2%.
Martin Jelenek, an analyst at the Slovak Electromobility Association (SEVA), presented the latest statistics on EV sales in Slovakia: “In the third quarter of 2024, according to ACEA data, 497 new battery electric passenger cars were sold in Slovakia, representing a year-on-year decline of 14%.” In total, 14 197 passenger and small commercial battery electric vehicles (BEVs) were on Slovak roads at the end of September 2024 , of which 13 395 were passenger cars. “Due to the lack of official representation in Slovakia, Tesla vehicles are categorised as individual imports and therefore outside the ACEA statistics,” Jelenek explained, adding, ” The share of battery electric vehicles sold in Slovakia in the third quarter of 2024 was 2.2%, but based on our calculations, after including new Tesla vehicles, we can speak of a share of electric vehicles at 3%.”
Patrik Krizhansky, Director of SEVA, estimates that the car market, including EVs, is in a holding pattern: “The entire automotive sector is in a state of uncertainty, which is mainly related to the significant decline in sales of new vehicles in Europe. The pandemic has knocked sales by two million vehicles a year. This means lower factory utilisation in Western Europe, while Slovakia has fortunately so far avoided similar constraints.” Križanský recalled that the availability of electric vehicles is growing: “New models are coming and there are more and more choices even in categories where electromobility has not been established so far, at least not in Europe.” SEVA analyst Jelenek adds: “In 2022, there were 74 different BEV models registered in Slovakia, last year there were already 100 models, and in the first 9 months of this year alone, police have assigned registration numbers to as many as 116 different models of personal battery electric vehicles.”
SEVA’s CEO also sees a wider range of models with cheaper price tags as the key to greater adoption of EVs in Europe: “Sales of lower-end models such as the Citroën ë-C3, Kia EV3 and Skoda Elroq are starting to take off, and more EVs in the lower-middle class will be coming to market soon. These are more affordable vehicles that will also be suitable as more casual company cars. We can be pleased that a number of these models will also be produced in Slovakia and that their acquisition by companies will be more profitable thanks to the approved legislative changes.” However, the fact that Slovakia is still unable to catch up with the pace of the biggest revolution in transport is worrying, according to SEVA: “We hope that the announced support from the government and the measures in the Action Plan for the Development of Electromobility will help to reverse this trend,” says Director Križanský, pointing to the recent successes of neighbouring countries: “A significant increase in sales has been recorded in both the Czech Republic and Hungary, also thanks to the support mechanisms. Adoption in both countries exceeded 8%.”
SEVA also expects a stronger effort from car manufacturers, who must already reduce emissions from their fleet of newly registered vehicles by 15% next year compared to 2021, to a target of 93.6 g CO2/km. “Manufacturers have a number of options to achieve this, for example by increasing sales of smaller vehicles. However, every EV sold substantially improves the overall average fleet sold, so manufacturers will strive to sell as many as possible,” concludes SEVA Director Patrik Križanský.