Share of new electric car registrations down in Germany in first half of 2024

The share of newly registered battery electric passenger cars (BEV) in Germany decreased to 12.5 percent in the first six months of 2024, down from 15.8 per cent in the first half of 2023, said the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA).

The share of cars with an alternative engine, which includes hybrid vehicles that also have a conventional engine on board, was 43.9 percent in the same period. Of a total of 1,471,641 passenger cars registered, 645,649 contained a propulsion system centred around batteries, fuel-cells, and hydrogen, among other options.

Over the entire year 2023, fully battery electric cars made up almost one fifth of all new registrations. The aim by the government and leading automakers to get at least 15 million electric vehicles on German roads by 2030 looks increasingly difficult to achieve in view of the sales data.

A recent survey found that two thirds of Germans want a mobility transition, with one third willing to give up their car. EU tariffs on electric vehicles from China have been criticised by the German car industry, who say they could slow the mobility transition.

The shift to electric vehicles continues to be controversial topic in Germany given its massive car industry, with the German conservatives pushing for a reversal of the the EU’s 2035 ban on combustion engine registrations.

Clean Energy Wire. Reproduced with permission.