The bottom is falling out of the electric vehicle (EV) market as consumer demand dwindles across the Western world, and Germany may be the country where sales are hit the hardest.
According to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA), sales of EVs in Germany are down a shocking 70 percent in August with only 27,024 electric cars being sold. At the same time, European countries are telling the European Union (a governmental body) that it needs to delay so-called “net-zero” carbon emissions targets.
France has also seen a large decline in EV sales, though the drop there was only 33 percent. ACEA said the numbers in France and Germany have pushed down the total EVs sold across Europe, causing a drop of 44 percent since this time last year. Overall, total car sales this year, electric and gasoline/diesel, are down 18 percent in Europe.
The bloom is off the rose for electric vehicles as customers face the reality behind the sales pitches. Compared to cars with internal combustion engines (ICE), electric cars cannot travel as far, charging stations are slow and sparse, and batteries lose a lot of their oomph in cold weather. Automotive analyst Felipe Munoz with JATO Dynamics said “electric vehicles do not convince yet.”
It looks like Brits may be shying away from EVs, too. While the sales of EVs have not declined in the UK, the rate of sales growth has, and sharply. Last year sales were growing at 40.5 percent, but this year that rate is only 10.5 percent.
Mike Hawes of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said it has proven difficult to shift buying patterns toward EVs, and he said “urgent action” is necessary to help consumers deal with the high cost of the vehicles and the inadequacy of charging infrastructure.
Charging an electric car, depending on the amount of power a charging station can deliver, takes many times longer than it takes to fill a car with gasoline. In addition, the first world has gasoline stations on practically every street corner, but electric charging stations are hard to find outside of certain urban areas.
Munoz of JATO dynamics does not think European countries will see any growth in EV sales in the near future.
