Renault Zoe and Nissan Leaf remain Europe’s most popular EVs
Nissan Leaf and Renault Zoe have been neck-and-neck in European EV sales for H1 2016, according to registration data from the European Alternative Fuels Observatory. The Zoe posted 11,790 sales over the period and boasted the highest market share at 12.3%, with the Leaf close behind with 11,117 sales. Tesla's Model S came in third place, with 6,846 sales.

In the first six months of 2016, only two vehicles are in serious contention for the title of best-selling electric car in Europe.

The Nissan Leaf and Renault Zoe traded the lead back and forth between January and June of this year.

That's a testament to the Renault-Nissan Alliance's commitment to selling electric cars on a large scale.

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The Leaf and Zoe traded places throughout the first half of the year, with no other model breaking their hold on the top two slots.

In June, the Zoe snatched the lead back from the Leaf, according to a running tally of electric-car and plug-in hybrid sales kept by the European Alternative Fuels Observatory (EAFO).

The Renault reached 11,790 sales between January and June, and achieved the greatest market share at 12.3 percent.

2016 Nissan Leaf

The Leaf was close behind with 11,117 recorded sales.

Aside from the Leaf and Zoe switching places, the rest of the top 10 electric-car rankings were unchanged.

Next up, in third place, was the Tesla Model S, with 6,846 sales over the first six months of 2016.

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The EAFO uses registration data to determine its figures, which is how it can calculate monthly Model S sales despite the fact that Tesla refuses to release official monthly sales results or break down its quarterly results by country or region.

As with the last time we checked in on European electric-car sales, the Model S was followed by the Volkswagen e-Golf and BMW i3.

Through June, the e-Golf racked up 3,912 sales, while the i3 reached 2,438 sales.

2016 Kia Soul EV

The VW and BMW were once again followed by the Kia Soul EV (2,126 sales) and Mercedes-Benz B250e (1,586 sales).

These models were followed by three small electric city cars.

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The Volkswagen e-Up recorded 1,367 sales, the Peugeot iOn recorded 983 sales, and the Citroën C-Zero recorded 746 sales.

The Peugeot and Citroën are both re-badged versions of the Mitsubishi i-MiEV.

2017 Mitsubishi Outlander Plug-In Hybrid

Plug-in hybrids: Mitsubishi on top once again

As Mitsubishi continues to delay the U.S. launch of its Outlander Plug-In Hybrid, the plug-in crossover continues to prove popular in Europe.

In June, it was once again the best-selling plug-in hybrid vehicle there, with a market share of 11.6 percent.

The Outlander racked up 11,097 sales in Europe between January and June.

2017 Volvo XC90 T8 Twin Engine with Polestar Performance Optimization

In comparison, the second-best plug-in hybrid seller—the Volkswagen Golf GTE—only had a 5.9-percent market share and 5,692 tallied sales.

It was followed by the Volvo XC90 T8 "Twin Engine," which achieved 5,035 sales in the first half of the year.

Just outside the top three was the Volkswagen Passat GTE, with 4,664 sales.

It was followed by the Mercedes-Benz C350e (4,323 sales) and Audi A3 Sportback e-tron (3,341) sales.

2016 BMW X5 xDrive40e

Then came a brace of BMWs. The X5 xDrive 40e SUV and i3 REx reached 2,573 sales and 2,350 sales, respectively.

The extended-range electric i3 REx is considered a plug-in hybrid for the purposes of the EAFO tally.

They were followed by the 330e sedan, which achieved 2,334 sales. Finally, the 225xe Active Tourer rounded out the top 10 with 2,012 sales.

Active Tourer hatchback models use a front-wheel drive platform, and are unrelated to the rear-wheel drive 2-Series coupe and convertible sold in the U.S.

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