E-car market: Fewer new registrations in Germany, but long-term global growth
The number of new registrations of electric cars in Germany has fallen in the first few months compared to the previous year. According to experts, the number of electric cars worldwide will increase almost tenfold by 2030.
The e-car market in Germany has made a weak start to the new year. This is according to an analysis by the internet portal statista.de, based on data from the Federal Motor Transport Authority (Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt). According to the data, the e-car share of new car registrations in February and March was 11,9% an therefore visibly below the previous year's figures.
In absolute figures, around 13,400 fewer e-cars were sold in the first quarter of 2024 than in the same period of the previous year. According to the statista.de publication, the most important reason for customers' reluctance is likely to be the discontinuation of state subsidies. The German government initially cancelled the purchase premium for commercial electric cars in 2023 and then decided to end subsidies for private vehicles in autumn. In addition, combustion engines are generally cheaper than battery-powered cars.
Norway has the most e-cars
By 2035, no more cars with an internal combustion engine are to be registered in the EU as part of climate protection measures. Battery electric vehicles in particular are to replace combustion engines. The share of e-cars in new registrations in the EU has grown continuously since 2020 and reached around 14.6% in 2023. In 2023, petrol and diesel cars also accounted for less than half of new registrations for the first time. This was mainly due to the strong growth in hybrid cars in recent years.
Norway recorded the highest proportion of e-cars among new registrations in Europe in 2023, with over 82%. This was followed, at some distance, by Iceland with around half of all new e-cars. In Germany, the share of e-cars was around 18.4%. E-cars accounted for around 14.6% of all new car registrations in the EU in 2023.
Growing number of electric vehicles
In 2022, there were around 27.7 million electric cars worldwide, more than ten million vehicles more than in the previous year. At around 14.6 million, more than half of all vehicles were on the road in China. In view of increasing air pollution and dependence on fossil fuels, alternative drives such as electromobility are playing an increasingly important role in motorised private transport.
According to a forecast by the International Energy Agency (IEA), there will be over 200 million electric cars on the road by 2030. The size of the market in China and the previous sluggishness of traditional car manufacturers have created room for growth for Chinese manufacturers in particular, alongside Tesla. In 2022, for the first time, it was BYD rather than Volkswagen that topped the list of manufacturers in terms of sales figures. While China, as the world's largest automotive market, is also by far the leader in terms of e-cars, the number is also growing in other countries. In Germany, for example, more than one million all-electric vehicles (BEVs), were registered for the first time at the beginning of 2023.
Tesla was also ahead among manufacturers in 2022 with around 1.3 million e-cars sold. In Europe, Tesla's models clearly led the manufacturers' rankings and took first and second place, ahead of Volkswagen with the ID.4. The US manufacturer was also very successful in a global comparison of all models, combustion and electric cars, taking third place with its Model Y.
Caption: In Germany, more than one million all-electric vehicles (BEVs), were registered for the first time at the beginning of 2023. (Picture: BMW)