But today Germany’s Blackout News site reports that there’s “a major problem with the trend of new car registrations.” It appears the figures are falling way short of the targets.
“According to Stefan Bratzel of the Center of Automotive Management (CAM) in Bergisch Gladbach, Germany is likely to fall well short of the government’s target of having at least 15 million electric vehicles on the roads by 2030,” reports Blackout News. As of January 1, 2022, 48,5 million passenger cars were registered in Germany. Only 1.2 million are electric battery type vehicles, which the government is pushing.
“The purchase of an electric car is currently supported by the federal government with up to 4,500 euros. However, as of Sept. 1, this subsidy will no longer apply to commercial buyers, who account for two-thirds of new registrations,” Blackout News adds. “From January next year, the maximum subsidy will be 3,000 euros.”
Consumers are still far from being convinced by what electric vehicles have to offer. They are costly, don’t really save CO2 under Germany’s current electricity supply mix, are inconvenient to charge and remain plagued by limited range.
The market share of battery-powered cars in new registrations is expected to fall to 12 percent from September and so far make up only 2.4 percent of all vehicles on the road. In fact this year, Germany is projected to sell fewer electric vehicles than last year.
Other problems hampering the sales of electric cars, according to Blackout News, include uncertainty surrounding government subsidies, consumers delaying purchases due to high prices, inflation and interest rates.
To meet the electric car sales target this year, 750,000 new cars of this type would need to be registered, but experts say a figure of just 450,000 new registrations “are realistically possible”.
“On the current growth trend, an inventory of 7 to 8 million electric cars would be reached by 2030 – just half the government’s planned amount,” reports Blackout News.
Another problem hampering progress on reaching the targets is that some buyers are thinking that it’s their last chance to acquire an internal combustion engine car and so are opting not pass up the opportunity to do so. After 2030, owners of ICE vehicles will still be allowed to continue operating them – until the car reaches the end of its life.
Also, political opposition to the ban of ICE cars is growing, and so it’s not even sure that new registrations of ICE vehicles will be stopped at all in 2030. Many don’t believe it’s even technically feasible.
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