Economy 11 October 2024, 3:30pm

Growth in Hungary's green licence plate registrations dwindles

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The number of vehicles registered with green licence plates in Hungary dropped over 26% month on month in September 2024, according to the latest data published by the Ministry of Interior. This marks the third m/m contraction this year. After a surge in August, the registration of hybrid vehicles (HEVs) and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) collapsed, as these were no longer eligible for green licence plate from 1 September.

Monthly data

Green momentum slackens

In September 2024, a total of 2,117 vehicles were registered with green licence plates in Hungary, 26.1% fewer than in August and only 10.1% more than in the same month of 2023. This marks the third m/m drop this year after April (-13%) and July (-10.8%).

The following graph shows the monthly tally of green plate registrations since January 2020 in the three main categories: Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV), Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) and Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV).

The dramatic fall in the HEV and PHEV category was triggered by regulatory changes (which are described in the box below). While we continue to receive monthly data on new passenger car registrations, including electric vehicle uptake for all engine types from the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA), but the HEV and PHEV numbers in the future green licence plate reports of the Ministry of the Interior will continue show zero.

See the latest ACEA report below. Here are a few details:

In Hungary, 47.1% of the newly registered cars were HEVs in August, with only Lithuania and Greece higher in this particular ranking. New HEV registrations in Hungary were practically flat (+0.1%) yr/yr at 3,818 cars. Hungary finished in the bottom third of this ranking last month.
In Hungary, 518 BEVs were newly registered in August, a share of 6.4%. After soaring by nearly 64% yr/yr in July, new BEV registrations in Hungary edged up by only 8.8% in August, against a 43.9% drop in the EU.
In Hungary, the share of PHEVs in total new passenger car sales was 9.1%, up considerably from 5.5% in July. A total of 737 PHEVs were newly registered in Hungary in August, which marks a whopping 43.9% yr/yr jump.

Extended-range, externally chargeable hybrid electric vehicles (5N) and externally chargeable hybrid electric vehicles (plug-in hybrid vehicles, 5P) have no longer been able to receive green number plates when first registered in Hungary since 1 September 2024. In addition, previously issued green number plates for these vehicles will have to be replaced by 30 November 2026 at the latest, beyond which date they must have regular licence plates.

Environmentally friendly vehicles (5E, 5N, 5P, 5Z) uniformly benefit from the following discounts: (i) exemption from vehicle tax, (ii) exemption from company car tax, (iii) exemption from transfer tax and (iv) zero registration tax.

With those in the 5N and 5P categories no longer deemed environmentally friendly from 1 September, they should be subjected to the vehicle tax, although the regulation does not define precisely what environmentally friendly means. If they were to further specify the definition in the vehicle tax law, vehicles classified as 5N and 5P will most likely be subjected to the company car tax too. These vehicles are also most likely to be subjected to the transfer tax and the registration tax (estimated to be HUF 76,000).

All electric

March saw the registration of 2,108 battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in Hungary, an all time high. June recorded the second-highest number (2,072), and after two consecutive months of decline, again 2,072 BEV's got green licence plates in Hungary in September, a growth of over 34% in monthly terms.

The m/m increase for passenger cars was a whopping 36%, and 8.3% more trucks got green licence plates last month (104) than in August (96).

A total of 1,640 all electric passenger cars were registered with green licence plate on a monthly average in January-September, and with HEVs and PHEVs ditched, this number should exceed 2,400, a 47% jump, only to maintain the growth rate.

Hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs)

HEVs are the second most popular type among electric vehicles in Hungary, but with far fewer of them getting registered than of BEVs. August brought an absolute record with 1,123 new registrations, while the ministry reported 13 registrations for September.

As noted above, neither the surge, nor the plummet is surprising, given the changes to green licence plate rules that came into effect on 1 September.

Plug-in electric vehicles (PHEVs)

Registrations in this category have been erratic, with a slightly descending trend. As in the case of HEV's and for the very same reasons, August brought a jump in registrations (173), which was followed by massive fall (2) in September.

Green programme of the state continues

There is currently an e-vehicle subsidy programme in place in Hungary with a HUF 30 billion budget. The scheme offers a contribution of up to HUF 4 million per vehicle, depending on the battery capacity, and up to HUF 64 million per company, depending on the number of employees, for the purchase of a pure electric car, van or minibus.

The Energy Ministry reported earlier this week that more than 3,800 businesses have applied for support under the scheme, and based on their applications, they will be able to buy more than 3,500 pure electric cars and more than 1,100 vans with government assistance.

Of the 2,500 or so winners so far, all but a few have already signed a grant contract, and nearly a fifth have received funding. Applications worth HUF 17.9 billion already cover 60% of the total HUF 30 billion budget. The tender is open until next spring for companies planning to green their fleet.

How many vehicles with green licence plates we have?

The answer to that question is: 109,391 to be exact. The end-September figure marks an 2% month-on-month growth, down from 2.75% in August, and a year-on-year increase of 36.7%, down from 37.3% in August. The number of green plates is now 6.3 times greater than in January 2020.

The geographical distribution shows that while at the beginning almost the same share of green licence plates were registered in Budapest (48.9%) than in the rest of the country (51.1%), the ratio has become much healthier by now, with 61.3% registered in the countryside and 38.7% in the capital.

As for the specific categories, the number of environmentally friendly motorcycles grew from 66 in January 2020 to 651 by end-September. Of BEVs, including passenger cars, trucks, buses, and tractors, there were 64,548 registered in Hungary, a 44.9% annual growth and 8.4 times as many as in January 2020.

The number of HEVs totalled 31.505, up 33.2% yr/yr, while the number of PHEVs went up 11.3% to 12,635. Although the figures shown in graph below represent a wider range of vehicles (as the note in the chart says), passenger cars comprised virtually 100% of HEVs and PHEVs and 93% of BEVs in September.

How popular are the different kind of EVs in Hungary?

Green licence plate registrations took off in the first half of 2022 compared to the H1 2021, then the growth petered out in January-July last year only to soar again in the first nine months of this year. The same pattern applies to BEVs, while HEVs showed a more modest but steady growth, and the popularity of PHEVs actually subsided.

The changes in the share of the three types of EVs in total new registrations reflect the above numbers, of course, showing a temporary faltering but undeniable increase in the popularity of BEVs, a modestly eroding uptake of HEVs and a clearly dissipating love for PHEVs.