Germany Held Back EU Electric Car Market in First Half of 2024 — T&E Analysis

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In the whole EU, the number of BEVs sold grew by just 1.3%, but excluding Germany, the increase was 9.4%.

EU electric car sales continued to grow this year — with the exception of Germany — new data shows. Battery electric sales in the rest of the EU (excluding Germany) increased by 9.4% on average in the first half of the year, compared to the same period in 2023, according to analysis by Transport & Environment (T&E).¹ In the whole EU, including Germany, the number of BEVs sold grew by just 1.3%.

The abrupt removal of purchase subsidies contributed to a 16.4% decrease in BEV sales in Germany in the first half of 2024. A stable and supportive regulatory environment is key to avoiding stagnation and locking in investment, T&E said. It called on German lawmakers to follow Belgium’s company car policy which sets attractive depreciation rates for electric cars and phases out depreciation for combustion engines. As a result, BEV sales in Belgium increased by 48% in the first half of the year.

Lucien Mathieu, cars director at T&E, said: “Germany is the sick man of Europe when it comes to electric cars. Meanwhile, markets which have strong, predictable incentives for EV adoption are reaping the rewards. Germany’s CDU lawmakers in Brussels should stop trying to weaken the EU’s 2035 target and instead actually promote electric vehicles.”

In the first half of 2024, EV sales grew in markets with supportive regulatory environments:

In France, which has a social leasing scheme to provide cheap electric cars to low-income households, BEV sales increased by 14.9% in H1 2024;
In Italy, BEV sales increased by 7.0% in the first half of the year, with a sales peak in June 2024 when new EV incentives were launched;
In Belgium, the company car segment drove the BEV market with a 47.8% increase in the first half of the year;
In the UK, the ZEV mandate has driven the BEV market, with sales increasing by 9.2% in H1 2024.

While the number of BEV sales in the EU remained stable, the average BEV share decreased slightly to 12.5% (from 12.9% in H1 2023), according to the analysis. However, in the rest of the EU (excluding Germany), BEV market share increased to 12.5% in H1 2024 (from 12.0% in H1 2023).