2023-12-18 01:32:35
As of: December 18, 2023 12:00 a.m
From now on you can no longer apply for government funding for electric cars. Experts suspect that sales will collapse as a result. Germany is far away from the government’s goals for electric cars. The North is no exception.
Anyone who buys a new electric car might previously count on government support of around 3,000 to 4,500 euros per car. That is now changing, because due to a ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court in mid-November, the pot from which the funding was paid has shrunk by several billion euros. From now on, only applications that have already been submitted will be processed.
Industry expert Ferdinand Dudenhöffer expects that the end of the funding might have a significant impact on the German market. He predicts that sales of a good 500,000 electric cars this year will collapse to 300,000 next year. “This is not only a catastrophe for drivers and the climate, it is of course also a huge catastrophe for the German automotive industry,” said Dudenhöffer in an interview with NDR Info.
AUDIO: E-car funding stopped – “Disaster for our auto industry” (7 min)
Transport causes a lot of CO2 emissions
After the funding was changed at the beginning of 2023, there was a massive decline in demand. Electromobility is a central building block on the path to climate neutrality. Around a fifth of German CO2 emissions are caused by traffic. And cars play a large part in this. The federal government therefore wants to bring at least 15 million fully electric cars onto Germany’s roads by 2030. That would correspond to around 30 percent of the cars currently registered in the country. But Germany is still a long way from this goal.
So far only 1.3 million electric cars
Of the 49.1 million cars registered in Germany, around 1.3 million were electric cars as of the last available data. This corresponds to a rate of 2.7 percent. Plug-in hybrids, which only partially run on electricity, are not included here. They are considered significantly less climate-friendly and are not included in the 15 million target according to the coalition agreement.
Most electric cars are in Hamburg
If you compare the e-car quotas in the northern federal states, Hamburg is currently ahead, as is the case in comparison with all other federal states. But the number of electric cars would also have to increase tenfold in the Hanseatic city in order to achieve the federal government’s goal. The electric car density in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is the lowest compared to northern countries.
Map: Districts with the most electric cars in Northern Germany
There are regional differences within the states of Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Hamburg. This is shown by data at the district level, which is published annually by the Federal Motor Transport Authority. The values may differ from the more current values mentioned above because, in contrast to the state data, the district data is only collected once a year.
Braunschweig is ahead in the municipal north comparison
As of January 1, 2023, the municipal leader in the north was the city of Braunschweig. The electric car quota there was almost five percent. But this is also because VW operates the E-Mobility Competence Center in Braunschweig and registers many electric cars there that later drive elsewhere.
In addition to such special cases, there are other reasons why the e-car rate varies so regionally: If the disposable income in the region is low, there is often not enough money for an e-car. And the used car market for electric cars is still very manageable. Good used cars at attractive conditions are rare.
Further information
There are just 20,900 public charging points in the north. An analysis shows how good or bad things look in your circle. more
The charging infrastructure also plays a role: There are sometimes very few options for charging an electric car, especially in rural areas. Some people are also frightened by the fact that there is no uniform payment card for topping up across Germany.
New registrations: first a slump, then an increase
In order for there to be 15 million fully electric cars on German roads in 2030, the rate of new electric car registrations would have to rise significantly in the next few years. The Federal Environment Agency (UBA) even proposes a “national e-quota”: The quota of fully electric cars as well as vans and vans must be 40 percent per year and 85 percent in 2030, according to the UBA.
But this goal is also a long way off, as data from the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) shows. Of the newly registered cars across Germany, only 17 percent were electric cars. The northern federal states are partly above and partly below this average.
The change in funding and purchase bonuses led to a collapse in new registrations of electric cars at the beginning of 2023. By the end of 2022, buyers had received a subsidy of up to 9,000 euros. The rates have now risen once more. What things will look like following the funding runs out will only become clear when the registration numbers for January are published in February.
Most popular electric car manufacturer in Germany: VW overtakes Tesla
The US manufacturer Tesla initiated the growth in electric cars years ago. But little by little the German car manufacturers have followed suit. The VW Group from Lower Saxony, for example, now offers several models. Since the beginning of the year, more electric cars from VW have been registered in Germany than from Tesla.
However, car expert Dudenhöffer sees VW under pressure following the end of funding in Germany. Because competition from Asian brands, among others, is growing. This doesn’t have to mean a bad thing for people who are interested in buying an electric car: competition might lead to the still very expensive models falling in price.
Despite better engines: CO2 emissions are increasing
A look at developments to date also shows that the transport sector urgently needs to become more climate-friendly. In the last few decades, there has been no overall improvement in CO2 emissions from car traffic – on the contrary: according to the Federal Environment Agency, emissions from car traffic actually increased by 5.1 percent between 1995 and 2019.
Overall, cars today are much more climate and environmentally friendly than before and, thanks to modern engines, emit less CO2 on average per kilometer driven. But there are even more cars on the road today than before, which negates the positive effect. The same applies to freight transport by truck. Cars are also becoming increasingly larger. SUVs and off-road vehicles are also to blame for the still high CO2 values. They currently belong to the best-selling passenger car segment. The goal of climate-neutral road traffic is still a long way off.
Further information
Required range, available charging stations, battery condition: Buyers of used electric cars should take this into account. more
#NDRasks: More than half consider electric cars to be no more environmentally friendly than combustion engines. more
Car, scooter or bike? Jo Hiller takes a close look at the quality of the diverse electric vehicle offerings. more
This topic in the program:
Information program | December 16, 2023 | 4:40 p.m
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