Following a 27% drop in new battery electric car (BEV) sales during 2024, Germany had a registered fleet of 1.65 million BEVs by January 1, 2025, according to data from the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA). This setback puts Germany behind schedule in achieving its goal of having 15 million electric cars on the road by 2030.
The shift to electric vehicles is considered crucial for reducing transport emissions in Germany. However, the transition has been challenging. The government’s abrupt termination of its electric car subsidy program in 2023, influenced by a budget crisis, led to a sharp decline in EV sales. As a result, only about one in seven new cars sold in Germany were fully electric in 2024, making the 2030 target increasingly difficult to reach. Fully electric cars currently make up 3.3% of the country’s total passenger car fleet, which exceeds 49 million. The majority of these vehicles, around 44 million, still rely on diesel or petrol.
Researchers from the think tanks Agora Verkehrswende and Zukunft KlimaSozial have proposed re-establishing income-based subsidies to support lower-income households. While some other European countries have smaller overall markets, they sometimes have a higher percentage of electric cars. In Norway, electric cars surpassed petrol cars for the first time last year, despite diesel models still being the most prevalent.
The European Union has established CO2 emissions limits for car manufacturers, incentivizing them to increase electric vehicle sales as a means of meeting targets and avoiding fines. The slow progress in EV sales means that major automakers, such as Volkswagen, are facing substantial financial penalties. Despite these pressures, the European Commission is considering easing the rules to grant the industry “more breathing space.”
