Why so few Germans buy electric cars

German buyers can by now choose between 27 purely electric cars, with the government offering a 4,000-euro premium and tax reliefs. Yet most private individuals still don’t opt for e-cars, RP Online reports. Between January and May this year, 1.43 million new petrol and diesel cars were registered in Germany, compared to just 14,583 e-cars. One reason is that despite the premium, e-cars are more expensive to buy than combustion vehicles. A minority of drivers could charge their e-car with power from their own solar PV installation, meaning they can basically fuel the car for free, Reinhard Kolke from drivers’ club ADAC said. For the rest, the cost of charging an e-car is often higher than manufacturers claim.

Read the article in German here.

See a CLEW dossier on Germany’s transport sector in the energy transition here.