ADAC: E-car share stagnant - broader range needed

The demand for electric cars remains rather restrained, according to the automobile club ADAC based on the latest data. In April, 29,668 cars with purely battery-electric drive (BEV) were newly registered. After a slight upward trend in February and March, the number of newly registered electric cars decreased slightly compared to the previous month. However, April was generally a rather weak month in terms of registrations – also for combustion-engine vehicles. According to ADAC, the slight decline does not signal a renewed trend reversal. The share of electric cars in all newly registered cars even slightly increased in April (from 11.9 to 12.2%).

"With regard to the urgently needed traffic transformation and the politically targeted 15 million electric vehicles by 2030, the current market development is by no means satisfactory according to the club. The registration numbers of electric cars in April are almost exactly at the previous year's levels," noted the club.

Even among electric cars, SUVs remain in demand

The most popular segment with more than half of the newly registered electric cars continues to be SUVs (16,177 out of 29,668). Far behind are compact class vehicles (3,720). Significant growth was recorded in the luxury class and large van segments (46 and 193% respectively), while small and micro cars saw a clear decline (-30 and -25% respectively). These figures show that electric cars have not yet fully represented the vehicle distribution in the mass market. According to the ADAC, the variety of offerings needs to increase and the price for smaller vehicles needs to become significantly more attractive in order to compete with combustion alternatives.