Sales of electric vehicles have flopped so badly in Germany that the country is said to be on a “crash course” with its net zero targets.
The country needs electric vehicle (EVs) sales to pick up speed quickly if it is to stand a chance of meeting its own targets of having 15m on the road by 2030.
Sales of EVs need to quadruple in the next three years and rise sixfold by 2030 to reach the country’s goal of having 15m battery powered vehicles on the road. But even its own economy minister has now conceded that the target is out of reach.
Instead eco pressure group BEE – German Renewable Energy Federation – warned that Germany would only have 10m electric cars on the road in the next six years which means that emissions targets will fall short by a third.
BEE president Simone Peter said: “The German transport transition is on a crash course with the climate goals,” reports the Telegraph.
And Germany’s economy minister Robert Habeck said last month that “we will not reach the 15 million goal by 2030” when visiting a Mercedes-Benz factory in Berlin.
He added: “But technical developments and, above all, social acceptance do not develop in a linear fashion.”
Meanwhile here in the UK motorists are losing interest in electric cars with demand dropping over the past year, according to new data.
Total interest was down on numbers recorded back in 2023 with the bulk of consumers still searching for petrol or diesel vehicles.
There is also an emerging electric vehicle crisis as targets for the installation of chargers has been missed.
Ministers planned for there to be at least six rapid or ultra-rapid chargers at every motorway service area in England by the end of 2023.
But just 46 out of 119 (39%) sites met the target – up from 23% in April.
The findings came in an RAC analysis of data from charger locator service Zapmap.
