The number of electric cars in Germany grew by almost 396,000 last year. According to the Federal Motor Transport Authority, almost 1.41 million purely battery-operated electric vehicles (BEVs) were registered as of January 1st. That’s roughly one in every 35 cars on German roads. If you count the 2,000 registered cars with fuel cells and 922,000 plug-in hybrids, there were 2.33 million – or about every 21st car.
The increase in pure electric vehicles was slightly stronger than in 2022, when almost 395,000 were added. It is also significantly lower than the number of new BEV registrations last year, which totaled 524,000. A significant proportion of the vehicles registered in Germany were apparently destroyed in accidents, shut down or sold abroad.
In the current year, it is becoming apparent that the number of electric cars could grow more slowly – also because the government purchase bonus has ceased. New BEV registrations in January and February totaled just under 50,000, well below the average values of the previous year. However, sales initially got off to a slow start at the beginning of 2023 after cuts in the premium.
Most electric cars are SUVs
The largest group of electric cars in Germany are SUVs, which, at 487,000, make up more than a third of the registered BEVs. Minis and small cars follow further behind with 238,000 and 235,000 vehicles respectively.
When it comes to brands, Volkswagen is still ahead: around 237,000 electric vehicles from the Wolfsburg company are registered in Germany. Behind them are Tesla with 164,000 and Renault with 120,000. Hyundai is in fourth place with 92,000, ahead of BMW in fifth place with 85,000.
If you look at the federal states, the proportion of electric cars in the vehicle population varies significantly. While they make up 3.7 percent of the population in Hamburg, 3.4 in Hesse and 3.3 in Baden-Württemberg, they are only 1.3 percent in Saxony-Anhalt, 1.4 in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and 1.5 in Saxony Percent.
