Electric sales charging ahead in Europe despite low overall figures

While most car makers have been developing pure electric and hybrid models for the past decade, it has seemed as if most of their efforts were lip-service to keep the green lobby and the carbon emissions police happy while sales of much more profitable petrol and diesel models continued.

That may at last be changing as high-end consumers are cottoning on to the appeal of electric cars. Sales are now starting to make headway and so manufacturers are scrambling to catch up.

Electric vehcle (EV) sales in Europe are predicted to rise from precious little to more than 50,000 units this year.

That’s not a huge number in the context of overall European car sales but it is a significant breakthrough – the equivalent of a cricketer passing the 25-run mark on the way to scoring a century.

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Nissan’s Leaf is leading the EV charge right now, with just over 7,000 sales across Europe. In

Ireland

, the Leaf’s sales have also risen dramatically, from just 42 in 2013 to 184 so far this year – an amazing 338 per cent rise.

Renault’s Zoe is also selling well (albeit at a slightly slower rate than it did last year in Europe) and BMW’s i3 is gathering significant sales momentum. Only 17 have been sold in Ireland so far, but then it is an expensive, premium option.

The premium option seems to be the one to go for though, as the car and brand every manufacturer is watching most closely is Tesla and its Model S. Its 5,000 sales in Europe this year might not sound like much, but this is a €100,000 car, so in that context it's doing well.

In the US market, the Model S regularly outsells more traditional big saloon rivals such as the BMW 7 Series and Audi A8.

Range Rover

Tesla-watching is becoming a habit for the rest of the global car industry. Mercedes has recently divested its one-time shareholding in the brand, presumably worried it is rapidly becoming a serious competitor, while Audi is known to be working on an all-electric version of the next generation Q7 (possibly to be badged as Q8) to compete with Tesla’s nascent Model X 4x4.

Now Land Rover has become the latest brand to throw its hat into the ring, with word coming from Solihull that an all-electric Range Rover is in the works. According to Autocar magazine, an all-battery Range Rover would be based on the all-aluminium architecture of the upcoming Jaguar CX-17 SUV – a chassis that is about to get its first airing under the new XE saloon.

If Range Rover can make a battery SUV work, then presumably Jaguar would not be far behind in making an electric XE to compete with Tesla’s putative BMW 3 Series-sized model.

If premium brands can get their customers to go electric, then the trickle-down effect on more mundane models could be profound. In the motoring world it has traditionally been the high-end cars that have blazed the trail for everyone else. That 53,000 sales figure could at last be the first pebble in an electric landslide.