European EV sales outpace diesel for first time

Europeans bought more electric cars than diesels in December, marking the first time sales of battery-powered vehicles surpassed those with diesel combustion engines.

Data from Matthias Schmidt, a Berlin-based analyst, indicated that over 20 percent of new cars in Europe and Britain were powered by electricity, while less than 19 percent of sales were diesel vehicles, according to The New York Times.

In 2021,Tesla was the best-selling electric vehicle brand with Volkswagen being the second highest selling brand, according to Schmidt. Tesla has been importing cars from China but plans to open a factory near Berlin to better serve the European market, the Times added.

In 2015, diesel vehicles made up over half of new car sales in the European Union. But now, the popularity of battery-powered cars has risen in Europe, the United States and China while the sale of other conventional vehicles has remained relatively unchanged, the newspaper reported.

Despite the rise of electric vehicles, the car market as a whole is considered to be in crisis. In the European Union, the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association reported that new car sales fell by more than 20 percent overall in November, AFP reported.

"This fall was the result of the semiconductor shortage that negatively impacted car production throughout the year, but especially during the second half of 2021," the group said, per AFP.

Electric vehicles are becoming increasingly popular in the U.S. as well.

State governments in the U.S have allocated billions of dollars to adapt to the increased demand for electric vehicles in a new push to provide infrastructure for the vehicles to operate.

The bipartisan infrastructure bill signed by President Biden in February also included $7.5 billion for a national network of plug-in EV chargers.

The popularity of electric vehicles had also prompted billions in tax breaks and spending incentives as states fight to attract new manufacturing plants.