December 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.
