Roland Berger Study: Sales of Electric Cars Rising Globally - China Leads, Germany Falls Behind

The number of electric vehicles sold worldwide continues to rise, but not as rapidly as before: After a doubling in 2022, 2023 saw an increase of only 33 percent. These and other results are presented in the Roland Berger EV Charging Index 2024, based on extensive industry interviews and a survey of 16,000 participants from Europe, Asia, North and South America, and the Middle East. The share of electric vehicles in global new registrations continues to grow—from 14 percent in 2022 to 20 percent in 2023. However, some established markets experienced setbacks, including Germany, albeit at a high level: Here, the share of electric vehicles in new registrations fell from 37 to 26 percent. High electricity costs and inflation are among the factors negatively impacting sales figures worldwide.

The reduction of government purchase subsidies is also having a slowing effect, as many countries are shifting their support from vehicle purchases to charging infrastructure. As a result, the number of charging points worldwide grew significantly in 2023, with a 65 percent increase, and the share of fast chargers rose markedly, especially in Germany and France. Although this growth did not keep pace with the rising number of vehicles in all countries, over 81 percent of consumers overall say that charging has become simpler over the past six months.

"The situation of electromobility varies greatly around the world," says Stefan Riederle, Partner at Roland Berger. "Mature markets like Germany are reducing or completely withdrawing financial purchase incentives, while less mature markets, such as those in Southern Europe, are driving the expansion of infrastructure and the sale of electric vehicles with subsidies. Car manufacturers also have different strategies: Some OEMs are focusing on new purely electric platforms, while others are reverting to plug-in hybrids. Overall, the sluggish progress towards cost parity between combustion engines and electric vehicles is having a dampening effect on the industry."

China Once Again a Pioneer in E-Mobility

The Roland Berger EV Charging Index evaluates the status of the countries considered in terms of the charging infrastructure for electric vehicles as well as overall customer satisfaction on the topic of e-mobility. As in previous years, China also leads the current ranking with a significant points advantage: Although the country has not improved its overall score, which remains at 82 points, it continues to experience strong growth in the sales of e-vehicles and the expansion of the charging infrastructure. Germany and the USA are tied for second place in the ranking with 70 points each, followed by the Netherlands and France with 69 points. All five leading countries thus experienced stagnation or even a decline in points compared to the previous year's index. This trend is evident in most established markets. On the other hand, emerging markets in the Middle East and Southeast Asia experienced rapid growth in electric vehicle sales, thereby narrowing their gap to the leading e-mobility nations.

Germany Losing Ground

Germany lost points, among other reasons, because the share of e-vehicles in new registrations dropped from 37 to 26 percent, but it was still able to defend its second-place ranking. Above all, the expansion of the charging infrastructure is making good progress in this country: In 2023, the total number of charging points grew by around 44 percent, the number of fast chargers even by around 70 percent. The infrastructure is thus growing significantly faster than the number of e-vehicles. However, there is still much to be done to reach the one million charging points targeted by the federal government by 2030. Additionally, the supply continues to be very uneven regionally.