2015 (Full Year) Germany: Electric and Hybrid Car Sales

BMW i3 and i8 Geneva 2015December 2015: Electric car sales in Germany doubled for the third consecutive month with full-year sales +45%, hybrid sales +23% and plug-in hybrids +125%. In 2015, only 12,363 new electric passenger vehicles were registered in Germany while 33,600 hybrids, including 11,101 plug-in hybrids, were allowed on the road for the first time.

Electric and Hybrid Car Registrations in Germany in 2015

According to new passenger vehicle registration figures released by the KBA, electric, hybrid and plug-in hybrid car sales in Germany were as follows in 2015:

Electric % Change Hybrid* % Change Plug-in % Change
January 659 21.8 1,893 0.7 593 323.6
February 436 -9.4 2,061 10.0 686 448.8
March 1,278 55.3 3,151 25.2 886 467.9
April 684 14.2 2,891 25.2 1,006 233.1
May 574 -38.5 3,073 14.4 1,054 97.0
June 1,032 27.4 2,944 15.2 754 137.9
July 962 61.1 2,859 30.2 944 105.2
August 831 61.4 2,128 -10.9 570 -8.1
September 929 24.4 2,940 29.4 1,038 160.8
October 1,686 100.5 2,992 26.6 1,031 156.5
November 1,372 117.8 3,685 62.1 1,283 149.6
December 1,920 91.2 3,013 41.7 1,256 125.1
2015 (Full Year) 12,363 45.1 33,630 22.6 11,101 145.2
2014 FY 8,522 40.8 27,435 4.1 4,525 226.7
2013 FY 6,051 105 26,348 23 1,385
2012 FY 2,956 21,438
*Plug-in Hybrids are included in the hybrid total as well.

Electric Car Sales in Germany in 2015

Electric cars sales in Germany increased by 45% in 2015 to a new record 12,363 electric cars. This was just more than double the total number of new electric cars registered in Germany in 2013.

Sales of electric vehicles in Germany were somewhat disappointing during most of 2015. Only during the final three months of the year did sales really take off as expected with sales each month double the numbers from the same month in 2014.

December 2015 was a record month for electric sales in Germany with October and November the second and third highest months ever.

Despite the high percentage growth, the actual volumes remained low. In contrast to the 12,363 electric cars, more than 1.5 million diesel and more than 1.6 million petrol cars were registered in Germany in 2015. Electric cars had a market share of only 0.4% in Germany in 2015 and even in the record December month, electric cars took only 0.8% of the total German new car market.

Hybrid and Plug-In Hybrid Car Sales in Germany in 2015

New hybrid passenger vehicle registrations in Germany in 2015 increased by just more than a fifth to 33,630 hybrid cars. This includes 11,101 plug-in hybrids – an increase of 145% from a year ago.

Although all German manufacturers are now offering hybrid cars, the price premium is simply too high for most consumers to make these cars attractive alternatives to standard petrol and diesel cars.

The German government’s target of a million electric cars on German roads by 2020 looked as remote at the end of 2015 as ever. Although attempts were made at federal level to make electric cars more attractive, local politicians have little appetite for giving special privileges such as free parking and driving in bus lanes to richer drivers in expensive hybrid Porsches or BMWs.

About the author:

Henk Bekker

Henk Bekker is a freelance writer with over 20 years of experience in online writing. His best-selling cars website has been reporting car sales statistics since 2008 with classic car auction prices focusing on the most expensive automobiles sold at public auctions in the past decade. He also owns the travel websites European-Traveler.com and Lake Geneva Switzerland. Henk holds an MBA from Edinburgh Business School and an MSc in Finance from the University of London.