New registrations of electric cars in Germany fell by 29 percent in March. picture alliance / SvenSimon | Frank Hoermann/SVEN SIMON
The number of newly registered battery-electric cars in Germany has been declining for months, with a decrease of almost 29 percent in March compared to the same month last year. Car manufacturers are rethinking their investments in electromobility and are putting more money into the development of combustion engines. Experts are calling for measures such as renewed purchase bonuses and an accelerated expansion of the charging infrastructure in order to promote electromobility.
Germany is making slow progress in ramping up electromobility on the roads. The number of newly registered battery-electric passenger vehicles (BEVs) has been declining for months. According to the Federal Motor Transport Authority, only around 31,400 BEVs came onto the road in March – a decrease of almost 29 percent compared to the same month last year. According to the Association of the Automotive Industry, the number of newly registered electric cars fell by 14 percent in the entire first quarter of this year.
According to the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA), the share of BEVs in all new registrations was almost twelve percent in March. That was also significantly less than in the previous year, when BEVs accounted for almost 16 percent of all new registrations in March. There is currently no trend reversal in sight.
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More investment in combustion cars
“Little will happen on the electric market this year,” said transport expert Constantin Gall from the management consultancy EY on Thursday. “We expect sales to be at the previous year’s level at best.” Manufacturers are rethinking their investments in electromobility and are putting more money into the development of combustion engines.
For many private customers, electric cars are still more expensive to purchase than combustion engines. Last year, the federal government promoted the purchase of BEVs with the so-called environmental bonus. The government allocated 2.3 billion euros in 2023 through the climate and transformation fund. This emerges from a report from the Ministry of Finance, which is available to the German Press Agency. However, after a ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court, the government had to cut billions in expenditure from the fund.
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State funding for electric cars expired last year
The e-car funding for commercial users was stopped in September last year and, surprisingly, for private users in December. The Association of International Motor Vehicle Manufacturers announced on Thursday that this had permanently shaken customer confidence in the market for BEVs. “The current discussions about a possible end to the combustion engine phase-out planned by the EU for 2035 are also counterproductive.”
The federal government originally wanted to put at least 15 million battery-electric vehicles on the road in Germany by 2030. But this goal currently seems to be becoming more and more distant. According to the Federal Motor Transport Authority, as of January 1st, just 1.41 million purely battery-powered vehicles were registered in Germany. In order to achieve the goal we have set ourselves, almost two million new vehicles would have to be added every year by 2024 – that’s around 162,000 per month.
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Transport Minister Wissing wants to focus on technological openness for the transport transition
In February, Agora Verkehrswende, a non-profit organization for scientific policy advice, called on the government to take action to give the electric motor a jump start. The association named a series of measures: “from renewed purchase bonuses to a more CO2-oriented taxation of vehicles, company cars and fuels to minimum quotas for electric cars and a forced expansion of the charging infrastructure,” as director Christian Hochfeld and his deputy Wiebke Zimmer wrote . The first stage of the plan must be implemented immediately because current market developments are clearly not sufficient.
However, there is currently no sign of a return to purchase premiums in politics. Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) said on Thursday in the ZDF morning magazine: “We are now seeing not only in Germany, but everywhere, including in Europe, that electric vehicles are not being bought to the extent that was expected.” He reiterated his opinion Position not to rely solely on electric cars for the transport transition. “We have a greater chance of achieving climate protection if we keep several technologies open,” said Wissing, referring to drives such as hydrogen or synthetic fuels for internal combustion engines, so-called e-fuels.
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Political consultants say that initially there will not be enough cheap e-fuel available for e-cars
However, e-fuels are viewed critically for car traffic. “The reference to e-fuels is misleading because this expensive and energy-intensive technology is needed where there is no climate-neutral alternative in the foreseeable future, especially in shipping and air traffic as well as in parts of industry,” write Hochfeld and Room from the Agora Verkehrswende. “For the time being, there will be no significant quantities of e-fuels at affordable prices for combustion cars.”
According to KBA, a total of 263,844 passenger cars were newly registered last month. That is around six percent less than in March of the previous year. Commercial vehicles accounted for more than 68 percent of new registrations.
AA/dpa