August 2018: The top-selling electric car brands in Germany were Smart, Renault and VW while the favorite electric car models were the Zoe, Soul and Fortwo.
January to August 2018: New electric passenger car registrations confirmed Smart as the leading electric car brand in Germany followed by Volkswagen, Renault, Kia and BMW. The favorite electric car models thus far in 2018 in Germany were the Renault Zoe, VW Golf, Smart Fortwo, Kia Soul and BMW i3. Despite a high increase in the number of electric cars in Germany, the market share of electric cars continued to shrink and failed to reach even a single percent of the booming German new car market.
Electric Car Market in Germany in 2018
New electric passenger vehicle registrations in Germany in August 2018 increased by only 12.9% from August 2017 to 2,457 cars. Electric cars thus had only a 0.78% of the total German new car market of 316,405 cars.
Thus far in 2018, a total of 22,217 electric cars were registered for the first time for on-road use in Germany. This number includes cars sold to final consumers but also research and demonstration models.
Best-Selling Electric Car Brands in Germany in 2018
New passenger vehicle registration data released by the KBA identified the following as the top-selling electric car brands in Germany in August 2018 and January to August 2018:
| 1-8/2018 | Brand | August | Jan to Aug 2018 |
| Â | All Electric Cars | 2,457 | 22,217 |
| Â | Share of Total Car Market | 0.78%% | 0.9%% |
| Â | Â | Â | Â |
| 1 | SMART | 503 | 4,908 |
| 2 | VW | 374 | 3,806 |
| 3 | RENAULT | 421 | 3,432 |
| 4 | KIA | 340 | 2,804 |
| 5 | BMW | 282 | 2,347 |
| 6 | TESLA | 82 | 1,431 |
| 7 | NISSAN | 182 | 1,318 |
| 8 | HYUNDAI | 142 | 935 |
| 9 | OPEL | 25 | 331 |
| 10 | AUDI | 25 | 212 |
| 11 | PEUGEOT | 3 | 127 |
| 12 | JAGUAR | 2 | 115 |
| 13 | CITROEN | 8 | 91 |
| 14 | MERCEDES | 1 | 83 |
| 15 | PORSCHE | 15 | 54 |
| 16 | FORD | 0 | 17 |
| 17 | MITSUBISHI | 1 | 12 |
| 18 | HONDA | 0 | 5 |
| Â | Source: KBA | Â | Â |
Top-Selling Electric Carmakers in Germany in 2018
In August 2018, Smart was again the best-selling electric car brand in Germany – a position it claimed for all but two months thus far this year. Compared to July 2018, Renault moved ahead of both Volkswagen and Kia while BMW, Nissan, Hyundai and Tesla were in the same positions. Opel and Audi reentered the top-ten list of Germany’s leading electric car brands while Jaguar and Porsche slipped out of the list after a high number of demonstration and research electric vehicles were registered in July 2018.
Year-to-date 2018, Smart was Germany’s leading electric car brand followed by VW and Renault. The relative rank positions for all electric car brands remained unchanged from a month ago.
Best-Selling Electric Car Models in Germany in 2018
According to the KBA the following where the top-selling electric car models in Germany in August 2018 and January to August 2018:
| Aug | Brand | Model | August 2018 | Jan to Aug 2018 |
| Â | Total Electric Market | Â | 2,457 | 22,217 |
| 1 | Renault | Zoe | 421 | 3,432 |
| 2 | Kia | Soul | 339 | 2,786 |
| 3 | Smart | Fortwo | 334 | 3,054 |
| 4 | BMW | I3 | 282 | 2,347 |
| 5 | VW | Golf | 268 | 3,140 |
| 6 | Nissan | Leaf | 177 | 1,228 |
| 7 | Smart | Forfour | 169 | 1,854 |
| 8 | Hyundai | Ioniq | 138 | 922 |
| 9 | VW | Up | 105 | 661 |
| 10 | Tesla | Model S | 47 | 954 |
| 11 | Tesla | Model X | 35 | 474 |
| 12 | Opel | Ampera | 25 | 331 |
| 13 | Citroen | C-Zero | 6 | 75 |
| 14 | Nissan | NV200 | 5 | 90 |
| 15 | Peugeot | Ion | 3 | 125 |
| 16 | Jaguar | I-Pace | 2 | 115 |
| 17 | Mercedes-Benz | B-Class | 0 | 80 |
| 18 | Ford | Focus | 0 | 17 |
| Â | Source: KBA | Â | Â | Â |
Top-Selling Electric Car Models in Germany in 2018
In August 2018, the Renault Zoe was again Germany’s favorite electric car model regaining the top spot from the Kia Soul that was the leading model in July 2018. The Smart Fortwo slipped from second to third while the BMW i3 was the fourth most-popular electric car model in Germany followed by the VW Golf, Nissan Leaf and Smart Forfour.
Year-to-date 2018, the Renault Zoe was the best-selling electric car model in Germany followed by the VW Golf and Smart Fortwo.
Scarcity of cars and electric car components continue to hinder the growth of electric car sales in Germany – for some models waiting times of six months are given for new orders. Furthermore, the high number of electric show cars displayed and announced by amongst others Audi, Mercedes, Porsche and VW still haven’t made it to the dealers (or the factory floor for that matter).
