If you’re thinking of the Renault Mégane E-Tech, that’s not the right answer. It is the Peugeot e-208 which dominates French sales in the category of electric cars. What other surprises does this year’s ranking have in store for us?
The registration figures for 2022 have just fallen this 1er January 2023. We can now rank the most popular electric models in France this year. In 2021, the electric car sales podium was dominated by the Tesla Model 3, then the Renault Zoé and the Peugeot e-208. For 2022, we find more or less the same players at the top of the ranking, but several changes have been made to volumes and models.
The Peugeot e-208 takes the lead
From the 3e place in 2021, the Peugeot e-208 will reach the top of the ranking for the French market in 2022. However, there were not many more Peugeot e-208s registered over the year. With 1,361 more cars delivered than last year, the Peugeot e-208 is mainly benefiting from the drop in volumes of its competitors Tesla and Renault.
The Peugeot e-208 nevertheless confirms its interest among the public with 19,219 electric cars registered in 2022. The Peugeot 208, all engines combined, is in any case the second best-selling model in France among individuals.
It will be interesting to see if the evolution of the engine of the e-208, planned for the first quarter of 2023, will make it possible to maintain this level of sales, despite a price increase in recent months. The e-208 is available from €34,800 on the brand’s configurator, whereas it was displayed at €30,590 earlier in 2022. With this modification to come, Peugeot announces more than 400 km wltp autonomy, a more powerful motor going from 100 to 115 kW, and a battery whose useful capacity is up slightly.
The Dacia Spring pushes hard and ranks second in 2022 sales
Despite fairly long delivery times, the Dacia Spring ranks second in the 2022 ranking. Dacia’s low-cost model saw its registrations drop from 11,386 models in 2021 to 18,326 cars in 2022.
Like all electric models, the Dacia Spring has seen its price rise several times in 2022. It is now available from €20,800 (before bonuses). Despite everything, it remains the most affordable electric car available in France, which largely explains its success.
Tesla drops to third place with its Model 3
The Tesla Model 3 was the box of 2021 with 24,911 models registered over the year. In 2022, only 17,005 Model 3s were delivered to French buyers. Between the fairly significant price increase of the different versions of the Model 3 and deliveries from China disrupted by the restrictions still applied in the country, the Tesla Model 3 is no longer the star of sales in France.
It must be said that the Model Y, which enters directly into 8e position in the 2022 sales ranking, also overshadows the Model 3 sedan.
The Renault Mégane e-Tech goes straight to 4e square
In just a few months, 15,580 of the electric Renault Mégane have been registered in France. For a model, the first deliveries of which began in the second quarter of 2022, this is a good commercial performance. This suggests a good result in 2023 for this model made in France.
It’s been several months, without much surprise, that the Megane e-Tech has been in the top 3 monthly registrations of electric cars. There is no reason for this to run out of steam in 2023.
The Fiat 500 e still in 5e place in the ranking, but for how long?
In 2021, the new electric Fiat 500 has already finished the year in 5th position. It therefore retains this ranking for one more year. However, the volume of registrations has increased for this urban electric model. With 15,163 Fiat 500 e, against 9,556 last year, the model confirms its success with the public.
However, the model is starting to drop in the monthly rankings for the past two months. With demand hard to meet due to component shortages and affordable entry-level versions that have been pulled from the catalog, it seems hard to believe that the electric Fiat 500 will manage to keep its place at the top of the rankings.
The TOP 20 electric car registrations in France for 2022
| Brands | Number of registrations |
|---|---|
| Peugeot e-208 | 19,219 |
| Dacia Spring | 18,326 |
| Tesla Model 3 | 17,005 |
| Renault Megane E-Tech | 15,580 |
| Fiat 500e | 15,163 |
| Renault Twingo | 12,655 |
| Renault Zoe | 12,180 |
| Tesla Model Y | 11,892 |
| Peugeot e-2008 | 7,174 |
| Hyundai Kona | 6,522 |
| Mini Cooper SE | 5,809 |
| Volkswagen ID.3 | 4,256 |
| Kia Niro | 3,979 |
| Citroen E-C4 | 3,858 |
| Kia EV6 | 3,032 |
| MG ZS | 2,828 |
| Volkswagen ID.4 | 2,757 |
| Opel Corsa-e | 2,511 |
| Nissan Leaf | 2,410 |
| Opel Mokka-e | 2,379 |
2022 marked a major shift in favor of electric cars. The market share of electric vehicles exceeded that of cars with diesel internal combustion engines for the first time in the second half of 2022. This trend was further confirmed in December with a 16% market share for electric vehicles against 14% for diesel, according to AAA data. Registrations of electric cars also increased by 25% over the year 2022, while diesel fell by more than 30%.
The ranking of the 20 most registered electric models in France also shows that buyers of electric cars do not systematically choose the large SUV models that manufacturers would like to sell to us. The strong SUV trend is much more visible in plug-in hybrid models than in 100% electric models.
The year 2023 will see the offer of electric cars expand further, which will probably upset this ranking in the coming months, in particular with the arrival of new Chinese models.
