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There will be over half a million electric vehicles on the roads of Europe by the end of the year, according to a new report.

Incentives such as the extension of the UK's plug-in-van grant scheme and Germany's electromobility scheme means there's been an uptake in the number of these types of vehicelss. 

However, sales of electric vans are at a fraction of that of cars, as there is a limited availability of models on the market, the report by Transport and Environment said. But other types of electric vehicles are popping up, such as electric bikes and scooters, of which there were between 5 and 8 million on European roads in 2015. 

In total, the European Union doubled its sales of plug in hybrid and electric vehicles last year, reaching 145,000 units sold, the biggest sales increase for any year to date.

Holland is the country where most electric vehicles are sold within the EU, for the third year in a row. Norway follows at a close second, and the UK is third. 

Including Norway and other non-EU members, Transport and Environment said, Europe is the second largest market for purely electric cars in the world.

EV brands

In terms of what brands people are buying, Mitsubishi sold the largest amount in 2015 (over 28,000), accounting for 23% of all sales in Europe. It sold over 27,000 Outlanders, a plug-in hybrid car, making it the most popular EV choice in Europe last year.

The second best selling EV is the Renault Zoe, with over 16,000 units sold. In addition, the Nissan Leaf sold 11,000 units, losing its third position to the new Golf GTE with almost 15,000 registrations.

Transport has become Europe’s biggest climate problem, Transport and Environment explained.

"Cars are responsible for 15% of Europe’s total CO2 emissions and are the single largest source of emissions in the transport sector. The EU’s rules on carbon emissions require car makers to limit their average car to a max 95 grams of CO2 by 2021. The European Commission agreed to propose stricter CO2 limits for cars for 2025 early next year," it wrote in its report, which can be accessed online.