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Electric cars: The boom is dividing Europe
E-cars are on the rise in Europe, but there is no European unity when it comes to charging infrastructure. The best care is in Holland, but you shouldn't go to Romania.
Electric cars: The boom is dividing Europe
The mix of different drives is becoming more and more diverse, and alternative systems are on the rise. This is proven by the latest data from the industry association ACEA. In the third quarter of the current year, the market shares were as follows:
47.5 percent of all newly registered cars in Europe were gasoline engines, 27.8 percent diesel, 12.4 percent hybrids and 9.9 percent electric cars (the remaining 2.3 percent missing from 100 percent are other alternative fuels or drives). This means that conventional drives are on the decline: The combined market share of petrol and diesel-powered vehicles fell from 88.6 to 75.4 percent compared to the previous year, with the decline for petrol engines being more than 24 percent being greater than for diesel vehicles, whose sales figures fell by 13.7 percent.
Meanwhile, sales of electric cars have more than tripled (plus 211.6 percent) and sales of hybrids have almost doubled (plus 88.8 percent).
The German industry association VDA is already getting the word out and declaring the German auto industry the European champion of e-mobility. The future of the automotive industry lies primarily in e-mobility, says VDA President Hildegard Müller. However, since there are still deficits in the charging infrastructure, the industry representative is calling for a rapid expansion, around 2,000 charging points per week, which would be around ten times the status quo.
No European unity
Speaking of charging infrastructure, another very recent study by the manufacturers' association is interesting: it shows - not surprisingly - a positive correlation between the number of existing charging stations and market shares of electric cars. In other words, the market shares of electrically powered cars are highest in those countries that have a good charging infrastructure. What is surprising, however, is the extent of the existing imbalances within Europe: More than 75 percent of all charging stations within the EU are located in just four countries!
These are the Netherlands, where 25 percent of all landing stations are located, Germany, France and Great Britain (with a share of 14 percent). In absolute numbers, this means that out of a total of 199,825 charging stations, an incredible 50,824 are installed in the Netherlands alone. By the way, the Dutch have more than ten times as many charging stations as the Austrians: According to ACEA data, there are 4,443 charging stations in this country.
The following fact shows that the status quo in Europe is not satisfactory: The four countries, which together host 75 percent of the charging infrastructure, only cover 27 percent of the EU area. For example, in Romania, which is about six times the size of the Netherlands, there are only 344 charging stations, according to ACEA, which represents just 0.2 percent of the total EU infrastructure.