Six in 10 cars registered in Switzerland in the first 10 months of 2024 were electric or hybrid, new data from Auto-Suisse has revealed. Despite the new record, the number of new cars on Swiss roads and motorways has declined compared to 2023.

Boom in hybrid and electric cars continues in Switzerland

According to the data, in the last 10 months non-petrol and diesel vehicles represented 60,5 percent of new cars registered in Switzerland - a new record and a significant increase compared to the same period last year (56,4 percent). Their popularity grew as the year progressed: in October 2024, 65 percent of new cars were EVs or hybrids, 5,6 percentage points higher compared to the same month last year.

However, there are signs that Swiss drivers are yet to be convinced by solely electric cars. In October, the most common cars registered were full and mild hybrids at 36,6 percent of the total, an 8,4 percentage point increase compared to the same time last year. By contrast, the number of purely electric cars registered has fallen by 3,1 points compared to 2023, down to 19 percent. 

Plug-in hybrids made up 9,4 percent of registrations in October, roughly the same number as last year. The percentage of registered petrol cars (26,4 percent) fell, while the number of diesel vehicles remained stable (8,6 percent).

Number of new cars declines as Switzerland prepares to phase out non-EVs

Overall, the number of new cars on the roads has declined by 7,9 percent in October compared to the same month in 2023. With 194.483 new cars being registered in the last 10 months, numbers have fallen by 4,3 percent compared to the previous year.

Even though the Swiss government has yet to set a date for when new petrol and diesel cars will be banned, in practice the country’s agreements with the EU mean that they will have to follow their timeline. Based on this, new CO2-producing vehicles should be banned in the alpine nation from 2035.

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