Mobility: Study: Germany is the world’s second largest market for e-cars

This year too, Germany is the world’s second largest market for electric cars.

Half a million plug-in hybrids and fully electric cars had been newly registered here by the end of September, as many as in Great Britain, France and Italy put together, the Center of Automotive Management (CAM) in Bergisch Gladbach announced on Thursday.

In China, 2.07 million, in Europe a total of 1.58 million, and in the USA only 0.43 million electric cars were sold.

According to a survey by the YouGov Institute, 43 percent of those surveyed in the largest European car markets would be willing to consider buying a plug-in hybrid or a pure electric car. The range therefore remains one of the most important measures.

The most common reasons given for purchase were environmental protection and low running costs. But “the fact that electricity consumption is an important differentiating criterion for electric vehicles has not yet reached consumers,” wrote CAM and YouGov in the joint study. Reasons against buying battery electric cars are high prices, lack of charging stations and charging times.

While pure electric cars dominated in the USA and China, plug-in hybrids remained a European phenomenon, with around 50 percent of new registrations. In Germany, VW was by far the best-selling brand for pure e-cars in the first three quarters, ahead of Tesla, Hyundai and Renault. When it came to plug-in hybrids, Mercedes dominated ahead of BMW, VW and Audi.

According to the study, Tesla is the most innovative automobile manufacturer in the field of electromobility in terms of criteria such as range, consumption and charging capacity, followed by BMW, Audi, the Chinese manufacturer BYD and Mercedes. “On the other hand, manufacturers such as Toyota, Nissan, Honda and Fiat are already considered latecomers,” says the study.