While the national average of electric vehicle sales stands at 7.1 percent of the total, EV sales in Szeklerland are headed in the right direction but still far behind. Székelyhon’s Katalin Iszlai has analyzed data shared by local authorities in four cities in Transylvania and found that Székelyudvarhely/Odorheiu Secuiesc takes the crown for having the highest percentage of green cars on the road.
Of the 15,053 cars registered in Székelyudvarhely/Odorheiu Secuiesc last year, there were 139 hybrid and 22 electric, which makes a total of 161 green vehicles or 1.06 percent of the total. With its 456 registered green vehicles, Marosvásárhely/Târgu Mureș grabbed only second place. That’s because the municipality has 70,707 registered cars, so the 360 hybrid and 96 electric vehicles account for only 0.64 percent of the total.
In third place, we find Csíkszereda/Miercurea Ciuc, where green vehicles account for only 0.57 percent of the 21,106 total registered cars. According to the data shared by the local authorities, 109 hybrid and 22 electric vehicles are circulating on the city’s roads.
Gyergyószentmiklós has 7,612 active vehicles, of which 20 are hybrid vehicles, accounting for 0.26 percent of the total.
Although there is demand for diesel cars, only new SUVs and smaller commercial vehicles are equipped with such engines. The market is now flooded with 1.6-liter gas engines (on average); hence, the popularity of this type of vehicle. As for green vehicles, the Szekler population is more conservative, so electric and hybrid cars aren’t popular in the area, slowing down the shift toward more sustainable traffic.
Hybrid cars, however, are of greater interest, two car dealers in Székelyudvarhely/Odorheiu Secuiesc and Marosvásárhely/Târgu Mureș told Hungarian news outlet Székelyhon. Last year, dealers sold 150 Toyota cars, of which hybrid editions accounted for 65 percent.
Related: Renault unveils Europe’s cheapest electric SUV, the Dacia Spring
Title image: Pixabay.com
