Status: 13.07.2021 01:08 p.m.
The number of e-cars on German roads will grow faster than expected in the coming years. This is what Minister of Economic Affairs Altmaier assumes. That would be an important contribution to achieving the climate goals.
The federal government’s forecast for sales of electric cars could be exceeded by up to 40 percent. That said Federal Minister of Economics Peter Altmaier of the “Augsburger Allgemeine”. New calculations commissioned by the federal government confirm this.
14 million e-cars required for climate targets
Altmaier is now assuming that “the number of electric vehicles in Germany in 2030 will be an enormous amount up to 40 percent higher than previously assumed”. So far, the government had expected ten million registered battery cars by 2030. “What we are experiencing at the moment is a very rapid change towards sustainable mobility,” Altmaier told the newspaper.
This would bring the number of e-cars on German roads close to the number of 14 million vehicles with battery operation, which experts cite as the minimum number so that Germany can meet the climate targets in the transport sector. The number was named by the working group of the “National Platform for the Future of Mobility” (NPM) at the end of June, a body that advises the German government. According to the NPM report, around 80 percent of all newly registered vehicles should be electric cars by 2030. By 2025, the share of new registrations should be around two thirds.
Increased funding ensures willingness to buy
According to Minister for Economic Affairs Altmaier, the significant increase in the environmental bonus has caused the demand for electrically powered cars to skyrocket – so much that there are now longer waiting times for buyers.
The so-called innovation premium of the federal government is 6,000 euros per vehicle (with a purchase price below 40,000 euros). This funding will be extended until 2025. In addition, up to 3000 euros come from the manufacturers. According to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, 1.25 billion euros in environmental premiums were paid out in the first half of the year. The funding volume made available by the federal government amounts to a total of 4.1 billion euros, of which only around half has so far been paid out.
In the first six months of this year, around 312,000 cars with electric drives were registered in Germany. Around half of this is accounted for by pure electric cars and vehicles with hybrid drives. Overall, this corresponds to around a quarter of new registrations. German car buyers prefer manufacturers from their own country. VW is ahead of Mercedes and BMW. When it comes to purely electric cars, the US manufacturer Tesla comes in second after VW.