Jump in EU EV sales amid Iran war boosts Chinese brands’ fortunes

European consumers, spooked by rising oil prices due to the Middle East conflict, rushed to buy battery-powered cars last month, with Chinese electric vehicle (EV) brands poised to reap the benefits and give their global expansion a boost.Battery EV (BEV) registrations, a proxy for retail sales, climbed 51 per cent month on month in March, topping 224,000 units across 15 key European Union (EU) markets, according to data jointly released by research firm New AutoMotive and industry consortium E-Mobility Europe on Monday.“March’s surge in electric car sales is one of Europe’s biggest recent gains in energy security, in a month when oil dependence became a real vulnerability,” said Chris Heron, secretary general of E-Mobility, in a statement. “Across the EU’s major markets, EV sales are growing at rates above 40 per cent, marking a clear step change, not statistical noise.”He added that the more than 500,000 BEVs delivered in the EU in the first quarter of the year could cut roughly two million barrels of oil demand a year.BYD cars are ready for export in Suzhou, in China’s eastern Jiangsu province. Photo: AFPThe report did not include the sales of different carmakers.Chinese-made pure electric cars, with their high-performance batteries and competitive pricing, had increased their market share in the EU since the start of this year, according to Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the China-passenger-car-association" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="119830" data-entity-type="organization">China Passenger Car Association (CPCA). Their sales on the continent were expected to jump after the US-Israel war on Iran started at the end of February, he added.