MÜNCHEN (dpa-AFX) – Electric cars are gaining ever more significance worldwide. Last year, around 13.7 million purely battery-electric passenger vehicles (BEVs) were newly delivered, according to an analysis of the key markets by PwC Autofacts and Strategy&. That is more than 3.1 million BEVs above the 2024 figure, an increase of 30 percent.
By far the most important market is China, where nearly 9 million new electric vehicles were counted. However, growth there, at 33 percent, is now only slightly above average. Next comes Europe with 2.6 million BEVs and 30 percent growth. The most important markets were Germany with 545,000 vehicles (up 43 percent), the UK with 473,000 (up 24 percent), and France with 327,000 (up 12 percent).
“We are seeing very dynamic increases in Europe and in the leading market, Germany,” says Harald Wimmer of PwC. “This development is driven by an ever-broader range of attractive and high-performance models.” Vehicle and battery manufacturers have done their homework. In addition, a return to a unified and familiar design language and naming conventions is also helping.
US Figures Plummet After End of Tax Benefits
The US ended the year with 1.2 million new electric vehicles – a minimal decline. Since tax incentives expired there at the end of September, sales have collapsed. In the fourth quarter, deliveries were 31 percent below the previous year’s level.
How different the three major markets are is also evident when looking at market shares: While in China, pure electric cars make up a third of the market, the figure is just 19 percent in Europe and only 8 percent in the US. However, if you also count cars with electric drives in a broader sense – that is, including plug-in hybrids and non-plug-in hybrids – the ratio is reversed: Europe then leads with a 63 percent share, ahead of China with 54 percent. The US remains clearly in third place with 22 percent.
Slower Growth Expected
For the coming years, experts expect continued significant, though not as strong, growth in electric cars. In addition, plug-in hybrids may have passed their global peak, according to PwC. In the fourth quarter, they saw declining registration numbers worldwide – driven by the Chinese market, which is considered an early indicator for global trends.
“The ramp-up of electromobility continues and is transforming markets worldwide,” says Jörn Neuhausen of Strategy&. The next step will be a holistic approach that goes beyond the electric car – for example, with bidirectional charging, which turns vehicles into mobile energy storage units./ruc/DP/zb
