Electromobility is gaining popularity all over the world. Sales of electric vehicles have increased significantly over the last three quarters in each of the three major markets, China, Europe, and the USA. Although China continues to be the unchallenged leader market, the business is expanding particularly rapidly in the USA. The Center of Automotive Management’s “Electromobility Report 2022” demonstrates this (CAM). The study examines plug-in hybrids and fully electric vehicles (BEV) (PHEV).
China is highly interested in electric vehicles in terms of numbers: Sales of BEVs and PHEVs have more than doubled in what CAM refers to as the “lead market for e-mobility”; with 4.36 million newly registered vehicles, the Middle Kingdom accounts for over two-thirds of total sales. Stefan Bratzel, the study’s director, claims that one explanation for this is that China is currently more adept at avoiding supply chain issues. However, Bratzel notes that Chinese automakers are growing more dominant in their native country and may eventually make a name for themselves in Europe.
In the three areas, a total of 6.75 million battery cars and part-time electric vehicles were registered, setting a new record and increasing by 65% over the same time previous year. With nearly five million passenger vehicles (+77.7%) worldwide, BEVs took the lead. 1.82 million new registrations—an increase of 38.4%—were for PHEVs. According to study director Bratzel, this year could see the 10 million electric car mark broken. With 1.69 million new electric car registrations (+5.4%), Europe is currently the second-largest market for electricity-based mobility, after the United States. The growth in BEVs to one million vehicles, compared to a 17 percent decline in PHEVs, indicates a trend towards fully electric vehicles.
The study’s authors come to the conclusion that “the growth momentum for PHEVs thus looks to be gradually coming to a standstill in Europe, to which the smaller subsidies are likely to contribute in the future.” This is also clear in Germany, where the number of newly registered BEVs climbed by 15% to 272,473 vehicles during the same time period while the number of newly registered PHEVs decreased by 11.5% to 215,600. The Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) observed an increase in both sectors of registrations of vehicles with alternative drives in October. According to the KBA, over 17% of new registrations were all-electric vehicles, which is over a sixth more than in October of the previous year. Around 15% of the market was made up of plug-in hybrids, an increase of around a third from 2021. In the first three quarters of 2018, almost 700,000 new electric vehicles were registered in the USA.
The market now occupies the third spot. It did, however, grow significantly there recently—by 146%. BEVs in particular experienced rapid growth, tripling in number. The CAM anticipates further strong growth, driven in part by the subsidies that have been implemented and in part by the influx of new electric-drive vehicle models that will be released to the market in the upcoming year. In this regard, Bratzel criticized the model policy of automakers, claiming that the majority of electric vehicles are excessively powerful and overweight. This is highly important ecologically, he said. Not only that, though. Large, heavy electric SUVs would require a bigger battery for the same range, raising the cost of the vehicles. SUVs make up 44% of newly registered electric cars, more than any other class of vehicle, according to the CAM’s data. The average drive power of the vehicles is 202 kW, while the average drive power of electric cars on the market is 174 kW.