Belgium had 5,853,782 cars as at 1 August 2018, 1.2% more than at the same date in 2017, Statbel disclosed on Monday. Belgium’s statistical office also noted that while the percentage of hybrid and electric vehicles was still small, it had increased tremendously over the one-year period. The number of hybrid cars reached 81,107 units, a 39% increase compared to the corresponding date in 2017, while the number of purely electric cars shot up by 41% to 9,244.
There was a 7.9% increase in gas-powered cars but the number of diesel cars continued to diminish, dropping by -4.4%, after decreasing by -2.5% between 2016 and 2017.
The number of diesel cars has been going down in varying degrees in the different categories, but they were still the most numerous cars on the country’s roads, amounting to 3,193,658 units as against 2,518,942 for gas-driven cars. Cars in the 1,300-to-1,599-cc range continue to be the largest diesel category.
“Belgium now has 9,244 electric cars, a strong increase on the 1,792 electric cars on the roads in 2014,” Statbel noted. “If one takes all vehicles into account (including mopeds, buses and trucks) electric vehicles have crossed the 10,000-mark and now number 13,514 units.”
The Brussels Times
