Are more electric cars really sold than petrol cars?

Is a PHEV an electric car with a petrol engine or a petrol car with an electric motor? Or does it just depend on how well the driver loads it? And when is a car a pure petrol car, and when is it a hybrid? You have been reading more and more in the news lately that EVs are more popular than petrol cars, but whether this is really the case depends on the definitions you use.

De Bovag writes about the sales figures for April 2024 that the share of petrol cars has fallen significantly, from 32.3 percent to 21 percent. The electric car would therefore be more popular with a 32 percent market share. The absolute favorite is the hybrid, with 44 percent. We asked Bovag what exactly they classify as hybrids, and the answer paints a slightly different picture.

Mild hybrids are simply petrol cars

Because even the so-called mild hybrid falls under the ‘hybrid’ category here. We are talking about technology where, for example, the alternator also serves as a starter motor and helps a little during acceleration. A Fiat Panda (which they call ‘Hybrid’ by the way) has a battery the size of a lunch box under the seat for this purpose. The technology certainly helps to save fuel, but to call an MHEV a full-fledged hybrid is a bit of an exaggeration.

Take the Audi RS 6 for example. The 4.0-liter V8 produces more than 600 hp and emissions are approximately equal to those of flight KL1325 to Krakow. But this is also officially a mild hybrid. Even the gigantic BMW X7 with a V8 engine is a mild hybrid. Yes, these models are much more petrol cars than hybrid cars. But smaller cars, such as the Ford Puma or the petrol version of the Opel Corsa, also have a tiny battery on board for a minimal boost.

A full hybrid or PHEV is different

Mild hybrid technology is standard on almost every new petrol car. Many people won’t even know they have it. It’s almost like calling every fuel car a hybrid because they have an electric starter motor. We agree with putting full hybrids, such as the Toyota Prius or plug-in hybrids with a plug, in a different category than petrol cars.

If you add the sales figures of mild hybrids to petrol cars (there are even a handful of diesels with this technology, but those numbers are negligible), the figures suddenly look very different. It then becomes clear that the petrol car is still the most popular in the Netherlands. But it is interesting to see that this powertrain is now almost in line with the fully electric powertrain. So is the petrol car really less popular than the EV? That moment will certainly come, but for now it is not yet that time.