More electric cars on Germany's roads but growth 'too slow' – Greenpeace

The number of battery-electric cars registered in Germany rose by 39.1 percent to 1.4 million in 2023, while the number of hybrids now stands at 2.9 million, according to the latest figures from the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA). Diesel and petrol cars on the road dipped 2 percent and 1.1 percent respectively, with these fossil fuels powering around 44.4 million passenger vehicles. Some 49.1 million passenger cars are registered in Germany in total. Nearly half of cars on Germany's roads are in the Euro 6 emission class, which is the latest exhaust emission standard for new cars, and is a minimum requirement for diesel vehicles driving in several clean air zones. 

Environment organisation Greenpeace said the growth of battery-electric models was too sluggish to reach the government's goal of 15 million fully electric cars on the road by 2030. To reach that target the number of e-cars would have to grow by about 2 million a year for the next six years. The KBA figures showed that heavy SUVs with high fuel consumption were Germany's fastest growing vehicle segment. "The latest KBA figures are a wake-up call," wrote Greenpeace transport expert Benjamin Stephan. "While subsidies for electric cars were dropped overnight, the German government won't touch subsidies that benefit particularly heavy, climate-damaging combustion engines."  

Despite the rise in registered electric cars, Germany's transition to the vehicles slowed in 2023 compared to the previous year, data on new registrations by KBA showed in January. A key reason for the slump was an axing of state subsidies, according to analysts.