By Nick Carey

LONDON (Reuters) – Just over one in five new cars sold in the European Union in August was fully electric, as sales of zero-emission models more than doubled, data from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) showed on Wednesday.

Fully-electric models made up 21% of sales in the EU in August, the first time that they have made up more than one fifth of all sales, the ACEA said.

In the first eight months of 2023, nearly 1 million fully-electric cars were sold in the EU.

Overall, EU car sales were up 21% in August, which is typically a slower month for car sales, making it the thirteenth consecutive month of sales growth as the auto industry recovers from pandemic-related supply chain issues.

Fully-electric car sales more than doubled to 165,165 units for the month from August 2022.

Internal combustion models made up less than 50% of sales in August. Plug-in hybrids – consisting of both an engine and a chargeable battery – made up 7.4% of sales, while full hybrids – with a larger battery that is charged by the engine and not a plug – made up 23.9% of sales.

Diesel models accounted for just 12.5% of sales. Diesel vehicles comprised more than 50% of new car sales as recently as 2015.

Europe’s top car seller, Volkswagen, posted a 21.2% increase in sales in August, the ACEA said. Stellantis and Renault saw sales rise 6.4% and 22.3% respectively.

(Reporting By Nick Carey; Editing by Sharon Singleton)