Registrations of alternatively fuelled vehicles (AFV) in the EU grew by 37.6% in the first quarter of this year.

New data from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association shows demand for green cars totaled 212,945 units, up from 154,754 during the same period a year earlier.

Registrations of electric charge vehicles rose 29.9% last year to 47,196 this quarter.

This was driven primarily by growth in demand for both battery (49%) and plug-in electric cars (13%).

Demand for new hybrid vehicles also grew considerably, with a 61.2% increase seeing 111,006 units sold in the first three months of the year.

Propane and natural gas cars recovered from a poor 2016, with 10.4% growth pushing registrations above 50,000.

Spain saw the largest increase in AFV registrations over the last quarter (87.4%), followed by Germany (67.5%), the UK (29.9%), France (24.8%) and Italy (17.2%).

March saw a 31% surge in registrations of alternatively fuelled vehicles in the UK.

• alternatively fuelled vehicles, electric mobility, EU, Transport