Tag Archives: Electric vehicle

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The European EV market is growing

The European EV market has been in crisis for a long time, and European manufacturers are finding it increasingly difficult to cope with the Chinese, which produce electric cars at a speed unattainable for any European brand. However, despite the difficulties, the European market is showing signs of recovery.

A few years ago, European manufacturers set the goal of becoming completely CO2 neutral by 2030, but that goal proved to be unattainable over time, primarily because of the supply chain, which was an unsolvable problem for most companies. In the meantime, Chinese auto makers developed electric cars at a speed that was not expected, or others overestimated their capabilities, so their cheap EVs, supported by government subsidies, began to arrive in large numbers on the European market.

European manufacturers began to sink and their cars were no longer competitive with Chinese ones. They began to look for a solution to the growing crisis and to demand protection from their governments. In 2023, the EU launched an investigation into the privileged position of electric vehicles produced in China due to subsidies, which after a year resulted in the introduction of additional customs duties.

Companies have set a new goal of complete CO2 neutrality by 2035, but many countries are not showing the necessary support to make this transition happen. At the end of 2023, Germany ended its plan to help customers and abolished subsidies. However, the Germans are aware that they must return to eco-bonuses if they want to increase sales. Also this month, France announced plans to reduce government support for the purchase of electric cars.

In September, almost 300,000 EVs were sold in Europe, which is an increase of 4.2% compared to last year. Great Britain saw the highest growth of 24 percent, while the best-selling models were the Tesla Model 3 and Model Y.

Big challenges await Europe in the coming years, and the first of them is the Euro 7 standard. Expectations have been lowered, so analysts hope that in 2025, 3.78 million EVs will be sold on the European market, and by the end of the decade, that number should reach 9.78 million.

Source: Reuters

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Demand for EVs in Germany dropped by 54.9 percent

At the end of last year, the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) predicted that the demand for EVs in Germany will fall in 2024, despite constant growth in the world market. This already happened in January, when demand dropped by 54.9 percent compared to the same period in 2023. One of the reasons is the abolition of the subsidy.

The German government’s sudden decision to temporarily suspend subsidies for the purchase of new EVs has forced manufacturers to reduce vehicle prices in order to remain competitive with other manufacturers. As a reminder, BYD lowered prices by 15 percent, while Dacia reduced the price of the Spring model by 10,000 euros.

Buyers turned to proven options, gasoline and diesel cars, which had a decline in sales last year. However, the current situation with EVs has resulted in demand for cars with internal combustion engines. In January, 9.1 percent more gasoline cars were sold compared to the same period in 2023, while demand for diesels increased by 9.5 percent.

Another major reason for the decline in demand for EVs is the current state of the German economy, which has recently been in crisis, as well as geopolitical tensions in the region. Inflation, high prices and poor infrastructure of charging stations also affect demand. Even the leading car rental companies are looking for alternatives for their fleets due to the high cost of maintaining electric vehicles.

The VDA expects the German car market to drop by 1 percent to 2.82 million in 2024. At the same time, the global market is forecast to grow by 2 percent to 77.4 million cars. “Problems in the supply chain have largely been resolved, but the business environment for German carmakers remains challenging,” said VDA chief economist Manuel Kallweit.

Source: Reuters

News

China is the new EV leader

The electric vehicle market is on the rise, and China is becoming the leader. This is supported by the data for the first half of this year, when 9.54 million units were sold, of which 7.22 million were fully electric, or 76% of total sales.

According to the CPCA (China Passenger Car Association), in June the demand for electric vehicles increased by 43 percent compared to the same period last year. Total sales were 1.28 million cars. However, the majority of vehicles sold are passenger vehicles, and only 3 percent are commercial vehicles.

The Chinese market is huge and constantly growing, especially when it comes to electric vehicles. CPCA also reports that this year, 60 percent of total EVs were produced in China, which is expected in the future due to the country’s well-established industrial chain, but also the high demand of the domestic market.

As a reminder, the global market for new electric vehicles had slow growth between 2012 and 2015 (1.58 to 1.79 million units sold). However, the development of new EVs has grown rapidly since 2016, to 9.77 million electrified vehicles in 2020, of which 3.19 million were hybrids.

In the next two years, sales of electrified vehicles reached 14.11 million units, of which 26 percent were PHEVs. If we look at the first half of 2023, growth in numbers is inevitable, and this year could be a record year.

Source: CPCA