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E-cars are becoming less popular – at least among many car sharing or rental car providers in Germany. No matter whether Miles, Sixt, Hertz or Europcar: more and more companies are avoiding electric vehicles in their fleet.
Car sharing and rental car providers are relying less on electric cars. Current figures from the Berlin car sharer Miles, for example, show: The proportion of electric vehicles fell to around 17 percent at the end of last year – six months before that it was 25 percent. In addition, only a few new electric cars are being added to the fleet, the company said.
Similar situation with other providers. Although no one wants to completely ban electric cars from the fleet, the proportion will be greatly reduced. The same applies to the Munich rental car and car sharing provider Sixt: They say that they will have to remain flexible on this topic in the future.
The US car rental company Hertz announced at the beginning of the year that it would sell a total of 20,000 electric cars – around a third of the electric cars currently in the fleet. The company wants to use the proceeds to buy new combustion engine models.
Expensive and time-consuming
And the reasons for this development are repeated at various companies in the industry: the costs of purchasing electric cars for the fleet are too high, but it also involves complex and expensive repairs. Miles also said that due to their short range, electric cars have to be charged more often than combustion engines. If an electric car only has a low charge level, many users would rent a combustion engine.
Separate parking areas for electric cars?
With a view to the conditions in cities and, above all, the attractiveness of electric cars for car sharing providers, Miles said that one key to boosting demand again, at least in the commercial sector, lies with the municipalities. A helpful approach would be to exempt parking fees for electric vehicles in cities.
Opposite tagesschau.de said the German Association of Cities and Municipalities: “A general exemption from parking fees for electric vehicles should be rejected, because an electric car also ultimately takes up valuable space in the traffic area.” Many municipalities are already promoting car sharing by providing separate areas or cooperating with local transport. The extent to which car sharing can be supported locally also depends on the respective traffic conditions.
Lull in the electric car market
It is a development among car sharing and rental car providers that fits the bigger picture, because the electric car business in Germany continues to lose momentum. New registrations have recently collapsed, as figures from the Federal Motor Transport Authority show. In March, around 31,400 new battery-powered cars hit the road, almost 29 percent fewer than in March of the previous year.
Many people in Germany still have great reservations about electric cars. The comparatively high purchase prices not only deter car sharing providers, but also private individuals. Environmentally harmful batteries, their limited lifespan and an insufficiently developed charging station network are further reasons. According to Targobank’s annual car survey, an electric car is only an option for almost one in five people. Two out of three drivers would then prefer to buy a combustion engine.
Demand for electric cars is weak – despite discounts with which many manufacturers are trying to compensate for the loss of federal environmental bonuses. The state e-car bonus expired last year, first for commercial providers and their fleets, and then also for private buyers.
Federal Government is called upon to act
According to a study by Allianz pro Schiene, the Federal Car Sharing Association, the Association of German Transport Companies and the Future Bicycle business alliance, sustainable mobility offers apparently have a significant impact on the economy. According to this, around 118 billion euros of the added value in Germany can be attributed to business in the sustainable mobility sector. Therefore, in the opinion of these associations, the federal government should promote this area more.
The organization Agora Verkehrswende, which provides scientific policy advice, had already called on the federal government to take action in February. Various measures were called for, such as new purchase bonuses, more CO2-oriented taxation or a minimum quota for electric cars.
However, a new edition of purchase premiums is currently unlikely. Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing, FDP, is still behind the end of the environmental bonus. In his opinion, car manufacturers themselves should ensure attractive prices instead of creating a market with subsidies.
The federal government’s e-car goals are a long way off
The car manufacturers and car suppliers are trying to reposition themselves and also turn the price screw. This is particularly relevant for the industry, which is one of the core industries of the German economy, in view of the competition on the electric car market from China. Various car manufacturers in Germany and Europe are planning to bring cheaper electric vehicles around 20,000 euros onto the market in the coming years. Whether these prices can still keep up with the prices of Chinese car manufacturers remains to be seen.
The federal government actually wants to see at least 15 million battery-powered cars on German roads by 2030. A goal that is becoming more and more distant. According to the Federal Motor Transport Authority, almost 1.4 million pure electric vehicles were registered in Germany as of January 1st of this year. So almost two million new electric cars would have to be added every year – including 2024 – in order to reach the mark set by the federal government.