Portugal October 2017 (Updated)

BMW 530e, #1 in October, Renault Zoe #1 YTD

PEV Sales continue on the rise in Portugal, with sales hitting a new record in October, with 437 registrations (Up 175%), and sales in 2017 up 109% YoY to 3.095 units, with the PEV share at a record 1.7%, there's good reasons to be optimistic and see maybe registrations reach 4.000 units this year.

After years of underwelming performances, the Renault Zoe is living up to expectations, leading the market with 574 registrations, but this month the best seller was the BMW 530e, with 77 deliveries, a company-car friendly model, as companies have VAT-exemption when buying plug-ins up to a certain price.

With a new Leaf landing in a few months, it will be interesting to see if the Japanese hatchback regains the #1 spot.

A popular brand is BMW, with three models in the Top 5, with the 530e jumping to Fifth Place and on its way to add the best selling PHEV title to the Rookie Of The Year award. 

This is one of the few markets where the Mercedes C350e still outsells its GLC350e SUV-relative, but with the GLC climbing to #6, becoming the new best selling SUV, and only 11 units behind the C-Class, the Mercedes AWD model might still end the year as the best selling three-pointed-star model.

Further down the ranking, the Smart brand BEVs had a great official landing, jumping into the Top 30, with the new Fortwo ED scoring more in a month (22) than in its predecessor in its best year (21 units, in 2013). A promising start, let's hope it is followed by further positive performances.

In the manufacturers ranking, BMW is an increasingly stronger leader, with 30% share (Up 1%), followed by Renault (18%, down 1%) and Mercedes (14%, down 2%).

Pl	Portugal	Oct.	2017	%	Pl '16
1 2	Renault Zoe Nissan Leaf	50 11	574 279	18 9	6 1
3	BMW 330e	16	249	8	7
4	BMW i3	37	226	8	4
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 11 13 14 14 16 17 18 19 20 20 22 22 24 24 26 27 28	BMW 530e Mercedes C350e Mercedes GLC350e Mitsu. Outlander PHEV BMW 225xe Active Tourer Volkswagen Passat GTE Volvo V60 Plug-In Mercedes E350e Toyota Prius PHEV Kia Soul EV Volkswagen Golf GTE Mini Countryman PHEV Volkswagen e-Golf BMW X5 40e Smart Fortwo ED Hyundai Ioniq Electric Tesla Model S   e) Tesla Model X   e) Smart Forfour ED BMW 740e Volvo XC90 PHEV Audi Q7 e-Tron Kia Niro PHEV Porsche Panamera PHEV	77 18 29 23 20 8 11 5 9 3 15 18 7 11 22 2 2 2 16 4 3 8 1	223 197 186 185 152 107 84 78 61 54 54 52 41 35 25 24 24 18 18 17 17 15 14 13	7 6 6 6 5 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0	N/A 2 22 3 13 10 5 N/A 27 11 8 N/A 18 10 31 N/A 15 26 N/A 23 28 31 N/A N/A
29 30	Audi A3 e-Tron BMW i8 Others	2 7	12 11 50	0 0 2	28 21
	TOTAL	437	3.095	100

Source: ACAP

Plug-ins and Regular Hybrids

Pl	Model	Sep. Sales
1	Toyota Auris Hybrid	120
2	Toyota Yaris Hybrid	103
3	Toyota C-HR Hybrid	84
4	BMW 530e	77
5	Renault Zoe	50

As plug-ins reach new heights, it starts to be interesting to compare them with regular hybrids, a class completely owned by Toyota, which has also grown significantly, as people leave their diesel-addiction for electrified models.

Nevertheless, the Third Place seems attainable, so in the near future the Toyota domination is likely to be dented, bit by bit. 

The Fourth Place of the BMW 530e is a surprise, but it is also another sign that companies are leaving their diesel addiction and going electric.

EV Distribution - Portugal October 2017

Almost two years have passed since the last survey regarding the distribution of EV's in my home country, based on used car websites and other sources, i have updated it, remembre, this should only be seen as an indication of how electric vehicles are distributed across the portuguese territory.

For the information to be easier to understand for people not familiar with the local geography, i have divided the country in seven areas: Northwest (Porto, Aveiro, Braga and Viana do Castelo  districts), Northeast (Bragança, Vila Real, Guarda and Viseu), Center (Coimbra, Castelo Branco, Leiria and Santarém), Lisbon Metropolitan Area (Lisbon and Setubal), South (Portalegre, Evora, Beja and Faro), Azores and Madeira Islands.

 Let's look at the distribution of the sample EV's:

Northwest

Following Lisbon Metro area, this is the second area with most PEV's (33%), the BMW i3 has surpassed the Nissan Leaf as the most popular EV, with a little help from imports, while the Volvo V60 Plug-In continues to be a local success story, being Third in the survey, with more than half of units in Portugal being located here.

Northeast

Known for having the harshest conditions in mainland Portugal, with several 1000mts-plus mountains in the area, cold winters, including sub-sero temperatures and the seasonal snow, while in the summer near-40ºC temperatures are the norm, it would be expected that PHEV's and especially the Outlander PHEV would be popular here. That's not the case, in a small market (4% of total), the most common EV is the Nissan Leaf, with 3 units, followed by the BMW i3 and the Renault Twizy(!). It must be interesting to drive the Twizy in freezing temperatures...

Center

In the transitional North-South area, responsible for 18% of the total stock, the Nissan Leaf is the most popular choice, with PHEV imports being quite popular, as the second most common plug-in in this area is the Opel Ampera, a nameplate that barely was sold in Portugal when new, while the BMW i3 is Third, with a strong prevalence of the Rex version.

 
 
 

 
Lisbon Metropolitan Area

Lisbon is not only the nation's capital, but also the only place where you stumble on EV's everywhere, with 35% of the total plug-in fleet. The most common EV is the Nissan Leaf, followed by the Renault Zoe, a car that has been selling substancially here, and BMW i3. Lisbon also has the most heterogeneous offer, with seemingly every model on sale in Portugal.

South

In this area, most of EV's are concentrated in the tourist-friendly Algarve, with the BMW i3 becoming the most popular choice, while the Outlander PHEV is the second most common plug-in.

The Nissan Leaf, the most common EV in Portugal, here is only Third, possibly due to customers being wary of the Leaf battery-degradation reputation in hot climates.

Azores Islands

Plug-ins are still in their infancy here, with only 2% of the country's PEV stock, with the complete lack of public infrastructure not helping at all, which is a shame, as the mild climate and short distances are good conditions for plug-ins. Anyway, the most common EV here are the BMW i3 and Renault Twizy, both with 2 units.

Madeira Islands

The Madeira EV scene is much more developed than in the Azores, with public infrastructure, including fast-charging and serious investment from local importers, especially Renault. The most common EV here is the Renault Zoe, followed by the Twizy. with the Nissan Leaf being the Third most common EV here.

Conclusions

That the Nissan Leaf is a success story across mainland Portugal, we already knew, but recent sucess story of the Renault Zoe is something new, especially in the Lisbon metro area and in Madeira, while the Mitsu Outlander PHEV is still the most common plug-in hybrid, strangely more popular in the southern areas than in the north, where ice and snow can be a problem. Then again, most people buy SUV's because they "want" one, not because they "need" it...

Teslas are starting to be scattered across the country, but the reality is that EV's are still concentrated around Lisbon and in the NW (Braga-Porto-Aveiro) industrial belt.