Electric car market remains below expectations in May
In Germany, 12,358 electric vehicles were newly registered in May, including pure electric cars, plug-in hybrids and fuel cell vehicles. The increase is 56 percent. New registrations of pure electric cars (BEV) rose slightly in May by 20 percent to 5,578 units. In addition, about twice as many plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) were newly registered as in the same month last year. The Federal Motor Transport Authority registered 6,755 new PHEVs (plus 107 percent).
Since the beginning of the year, 75,084 electric vehicles have been newly registered and reached a 7.6 percent share of the total market in the first five months of 2020.
Reinhard Zirpel, President of the Association of International Motor Vehicle Manufacturers (VDIK) emphasized: “After the record in March with almost 20,000 new registrations, the electric vehicle market is also lagging behind expectations in May. The strongly positive trend of the first quarter has clearly broken. However, the planned impulses especially for electric cars could lead to a significant increase again in the second half of the year”.
The VDIK member companies currently offer 63 electric models. A list of electric vehicles from international manufacturers can be found here.
The overall demand for vehicles with alternative drive systems increased slightly again in May. A total of 29,025 new electric vehicles, hybrids without plugs, mild hybrids (48 volts) and gas passenger cars were registered. The increase over the same month last year was 13 percent. In the first quarter there was still a 75 percent increase. Since the beginning of the year 168,618 new units have been registered. This means that cars with alternative drive systems achieved a 17 percent share of the total market in the first five months of this year, compared with just under 9 percent in 2019.
In addition, 2,801 new CNG cars have been added since the beginning of the year. Three quarters of the vehicles come from international manufacturers (73 percent).
| Mai | January – Mai | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Change(%) | Change(%) | Share of total market | Int. manufacturers (VDIK, %) | |||
| BEV | 20 | 43 | – | 34 | ||
| PHEV | 107 | 184 | – | 31 | ||
| FCEV | 25 | 56 | 104 | 37 | – | 100 |
| Electric vehicles (total) | 56 | 92 | 7,6 | 32 | ||
| HEV | 0 | 28 | – | 45 | ||
| CNG | 378 | -51 | 13 | – | 73 | |
| LPG | 200 | -78 | 568 | -86 | – | 93 |
| Alternative drivetrains (total) | 13 | 45 | 17,0 | 40 | ||
Glossary
Electric vehicles: BEV, PHEV and FCEV
BEV, Battery Electric Vehicle
PHEV, Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle
FCEV, Fuel Cell Vehicle, hydrogen vehicle
HEV, Hybrid without plug or non-rechargeable
CNG, Compressed Natural Gas
LPG, Liquified Petroleum Gas