Germany records 43,000 new BEV registrations in December

The German Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) recorded over 43,000 new registrations of purely electric cars in Germany in December. Compared to the same month last year, electric cars thus increased by a full 660 per cent.

According to the KBA’s current figures – detailed registration figures will be published on Friday – a total of 194,163 new electric cars (43,671 in December) hit the road in 2020. This is an increase of 206 per cent compared to the same period last year (63,281).

Of the total 194,163 battery-electric passenger cars, the VW brand accounted for the largest share of new registrations at 23.8 per cent, followed by Renault (16.2 per cent) and Tesla (8.6 per cent). Small cars with battery-electric powertrains represented the strongest segment in 2020 BEV new registrations at 29.9 per cent. The all-electric SUV segment accounted for just under one-fifth (19.9 per cent) of new registrations. The compact class achieved a similarly high share of 19.6 per cent for this drive type.

13.5 per cent of all newly registered passenger cars in Germany have an electric drive. This includes battery-electric cars, plug-in hybrids and fuel cell vehicles, although the latter hardly play a role. The German states of Schleswig-Holstein, Berlin and Baden-Württemberg had particularly high shares, each with over 16 per cent.

In the case of all-electric cars, new private registrations accounted for almost half of all registrations, at 48.8 per cent. Looking at all alternative drive systems, the ratio was around two-thirds commercial (63.5 per cent) to one-third (36.4 per cent) private owners.

“E-mobility has arrived in the middle of mobile society. Positive user experiences reliable technologies and a growing supply facilitate the switch to e-mobility,” said KBA President Richard Damm. “If the registration trend of vehicles with electric drives continues at around 22 per cent, as in the last quarter of 2020, the target formulated by the German government of 7 to 10 million registered electric vehicles in Germany by 2030 can be achieved.”

kba.de (in German), greencarcongress.com