In 2013, there were not even 50 electric vehicles (EVs) in Romania, now there are about 25,000, and in three to four years their number may exceed 100,000. How has the electrical engineering market developed, what were the key moments and what does the situation look like today? Also in the article you can read about what may happen in the future with these cars.

Brief information

• Romania has approximately 25,000 fully electric vehicles (EVs), and 11,000 of them entered the country last year. The first electric cars appeared in 2009 and 2010, and in 2015 there were not even 100 such cars.

• APIA estimates that, especially thanks to the subsidies of the Rabla Plus program, the year 2023 could end with a new record for all-electric cars: almost 20,000 registered.

• Electric cars have become more expensive by several thousand euros over the past two years, Dacia Spring is the model with the largest market share and the lowest price. Many compact models cost more than €40,000 before subsidy.

• If there is no catastrophe that will “shake” the world, it is possible to imagine that sales of fully electric cars in Romania will increase from year to year by several thousand units. Perhaps it will reach 50,000 units per year by 2026-2028, but it is very difficult to make predictions that far into the future.

• The future of electric cars will depend on government subsidies and how long they last. Equally important will be the rate of development of the network of charging stations. It is clear that for a long time, all-electric cars will NOT be attractively priced unless government subsidies are offered.

• 2016 was an important year for the history of electricity in Romania. The Rabla Plus program was launched and supermarkets began installing charging stations in parking lots.

• Charging stations at home and at work will be indispensable for owners of electric cars. There will be no more public stations where you can charge for free, there are very few of them even today.

Very timid beginning of electricity in Romania

In 2007, the first hybrid car, the Toyota Prius, was brought to Romania, and electric cars were to appear soon, but in very small numbers.

There has been a lot of talk about electric cars and their future in Romania since 2010, but they didn’t really become widespread until 2020 and after the Rabla subsidy went into effect. Until recently, charging stations were rare, and the first electric models brought to the country also had a low autonomy (up to 150 km), except for the Tesla, which is a very expensive, niche car. Currently, there are many models with a real range of more than 250 km.

In 2011, only two models were sold in Romania: Mitsubishi iMIEV and Citroen C-Zero, which were manufactured in Japan by Mitsubishi. These were mini-class cars, the declared range was 130 km, and the price was about 36,000 euros. Towards the end of 2011, Renault brought two electric models to the country: sedan Fluence ZE and SUV Kangoo ZE. Even then it was clear that the path of electricity would be long, for many years. And so it was. Here you can read a HotNews analysis written in 2011 on the topic of electricity.

The market has advanced significantly compared to the first years: for example, data for 2013 showed that there were 44 electric cars, of which 28 were Renault Fluence ZE, which is not surprising, if you take into account that the French were testing such cars at the time at the RTR technical center in Titus

Since 2016, they also started installing charging stations in the parking lots of some supermarkets, this is a very important point. The download was originally free, but that has changed.

2016 was also important for the fact that the first edition of the Rabla Plus program took place, which stimulated the purchase of purely electric cars. Only 39 electric cars were purchased under the program in the first year and 440 in 2007.

How many electric cars were registered in Romania in the period 2014-2022 (ACEA data)

2014: 7

2015: 24

2016: 74

2017: 188

2018: 605

2019: 1506

2020: 2837

2021: 6342

2022: 11,638

What the electricity market looks like in 2023

So, after years of being barely distinguishable on graphs representing different segments of the automotive market, EVs will account for around 9% of the total market in 2022.

• Why some electric cars are more expensive in Romania than in Western Europe

In addition, APIA estimates that more than 19,750 all-electric vehicles will be registered this year, representing a 70% increase compared to 2022 and a 14% market share.

If another 9,000 to 10,000 electric vehicles arrive, it remains to be seen whether the charging infrastructure, which has not grown in direct proportion to the growth of the electric fleet since 2022, will be able to cope. It looks like the subsidies offered for EVs in the Rabelais Plus program will be increased, but most likely an upper threshold of €75,000 will be set so that the most expensive models on the market are no longer eligible.

The total figure of 10,000 electric cars would not have been exceeded last year if it were not for two key factors: subsidies of around 9,000 euros per electric car and the existence on the market of the Dacia Spring, a model that can be bought for less than 13,000 euros thanks to subsidies , proposed by the Romanian state, which are among the largest in Europe.

The spring is manufactured at a plant in Shiyang, Hubei Province, a plant that Renault jointly owns with Dongfeng Motor Group (China) and Nissan. The joint venture was established in August 2017. Dongfeng owns 50% of the shares, and Renault and Nissan each own 25%.

• Romania will reach the threshold of 25,000 registered electric cars

There are voices that accuse the Romanian state of supporting Chinese industry by providing large subsidies for electricity. It is worth emphasizing that the Spring is a city car and has a more reasonable price than other fully electric models. If there was no spring, the electric car market in 2022 would probably be no more than 11,000 cars, but around 8-9,000.

Romania has approximately 25,000 fully electric cars, of which more than 10,000 are Dacia Spring, the cheapest fully electric model in the EU. The Dacia Spring costs from €20,800, other small-class models from over €35,000 and the C-Class from over €40,000 without subsidy.

The share of electricity in Romania was 9% of the total new car market in 2022, which puts Romania around the EU average. In 2019 or 2020, Romania was well below the EU average, but last year the country recovered significantly.

How the market will develop in the coming years

It is clear that in 12 years we are approaching the point where only new electrics will be sold, not petrol or diesel cars. That moment is still a long way off, and it’s hard for us to imagine what it will be like, just as in 2011 it was hard to imagine when we’d reach 11,000 all-electrics/year.

If there is no catastrophe that will “shake” the world, it is possible to imagine that sales of fully electric cars in Romania will increase from year to year by several thousand units. Perhaps it will reach 50,000 units per year by 2026-2028, but it is very difficult to make predictions that far into the future.

We can estimate that the total number of electric vehicles in the fleet will exceed 100,000 in 2026 and may exceed 250-300,000 in 2030.

There is no centralized data on the total number of public charging stations in Romania, the Plugshare app gives an idea, and there are several thousand, but it is clear that the landscape is more crowded with these stations, after 10,000 Dacia Spring cars entered the country after 18 months.

We don’t know the answer to these questions, but how much the electric car market will grow depends on them.

How long will these large electricity subsidies last?

Batteries will become so cheap that we will see cars the size of a Polo or Corsa costing no more than €35,000. but somewhere between 20-25,000 euros without subsidies?

Will the number of charging stations increase?

Will the rapid growth of energy tariffs stop?

If things don’t go crazy, maybe by 2035 we’ll be talking about a full electricity market somewhere around 130-150,000 units per year, but that’s too far away to know what will happen next.

Let’s not forget that in 2019 the European car market was about 16 million new cars, and last year it dropped to 11.5 million units due to the pandemic, war and various crises. Recovery takes a long time.

At the APIA conference, President Dan Vardy spoke at length about electric cars, reminding that electrification in Europe is a law, it is not just an intention, it will definitely happen. “The Commission proposed, the European Parliament passed the laws, and the Council of Europe gave the final verdict, and all the European bodies voted. 2035 is the cut-off year from which only new ZEVs – zero-emission cars – will be sold.”

He said older cars with heat engines would still be able to drive after 2035, but they would likely be taxed at higher rates in European countries. The head of APIA also noted that, as shown by the example of Norway, the most advanced European country in terms of electricity, charging at home and at work is the basis for electric car owners. People will no longer be able to count on free refills in the hypermarket, because they will disappear altogether.

Electricity in the world and Europe

Who sells the most electric cars in the world? Tesla surpasses 1.3 million vehicles in 2022, China’s BYD surpasses 900,000 and Volkswagen Group finishes with 570,000

The total EU market in 2022 exceeded 1.1 million electrical appliances. By comparison, it was only 55,000 in 2014, 84,000 in 2017, and 538,000 in 2020. The largest annual growth in EU volumes was observed from 2020 to 2021, with an advance of 340,000 vehicles.

Which electric cars were the best-selling in Europe in 2022? Only one model exceeded 100,000 units, the Tesla Model Y, out of 140,000. Six other models exceeded 40,000 units delivered: Tesla Model 3 (91,000), Fiat 500e, Volkswagen ID4 (67,000), Peugeot e208, Volkswagen ID3 and Dacia Spring (48,000).

Other top sellers include the Hyundai Kona EV, Audi Q4 e-tron, Kia Niro EV, Renault Zoe, Hyundai Ioniq5, Mini EV, Audi e-tron and Polestar 2.