Diesel, petrol, electricity or gas? What the Germans fill up with depends on the region. The differences are sometimes large.
Nowhere in Germany is the diesel as popular as in the north-west. The three neighboring districts of Cloppenburg, Grafschaft Bentheim and Emsland have the highest diesel shares in the whole of Germany, according to data from the Federal Motor Transport Authority, which the German Press Agency evaluated.
In the Cloppenburg registration district, the compression-ignition engines made up almost half of the vehicle stock at 46.8 percent on the key date of January 1st. In Bentheim and Emsland 43.9 and 43.3 percent. That is roughly one and a half times the German average of 29.6 percent.
Behind it, too, it is more rural districts where the diesel is particularly popular. The calculation is relatively simple: Where long distances have to be driven, it is more worth investing in the usually more expensive vehicle with cheaper fuel. Viewed by federal state, the highest diesel shares are found in Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony and Bavaria with 33 and 32.8 percent respectively. By far the lowest in Berlin at 21.5 percent.
Overall, petrol engines continue to dominate in Germany at 62.7 percent. Its share is particularly high in urban regions with a below-average per capita income: Frankfurt an der Oder and Herne lead this ranking with 72.4 percent each – followed by Bottrop (71.8) and Görlitz with 71.5 percent . Diesel vehicles, which are usually more expensive, always account for less than a quarter. In terms of federal states, Berlin is ahead with 68.7 percent and Saxony with 67.7 percent. At 59.1, Bavaria is the only state below 60 percent.
Pure electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids
Pure electric cars and plug-in hybrids, on the other hand, are most common in Wiesbaden. In the Hessian state capital, pure electric vehicles meanwhile make up 7.8 percent of the registered vehicle population. Plug-in hybrids 6.8 percent. Both are maximums. Braunschweig follows in second place with 4.9 percent for pure electric vehicles, and Stuttgart with 5 percent for plug-in hybrids. In all three cities, it could play a role that there are very high proportions of the vehicle stock company and service cars.
The lowest proportions of pure electric vehicles are in Oberspreewald-Lausitz and Görlitz, each at around 0.7 percent. For plug-in hybrids in Ludwigslust-Parchim with 0.6 and Elbe-Elster with 0.7 percent.
In the federal state ranking, Hamburg and Hesse are ahead by a nose both in pure electric vehicles with 2.5 percent each and in plug-in hybrids with 3 and 2.3 percent. Saxony-Anhalt brings up the rear with just under 1 percent for electric vehicles, and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania with 0.9 for plug-in hybrids.
When it comes to gas-powered cars, the strongholds are in the extreme west. Even there, in Heinsberg, Kleve and Viersen, this fuel only accounts for between 2.6 and 2.1 percent. In Trier and Passau at the other end of the scale it is 0.3 percent. At the federal state level, North Rhine-Westphalia leads with 1.3 percent, Saarland brings up the rear with 0.4 percent. Germany-wide it is 0.8 percent.
Source: Stern
