E-cars are moving away: nobody wants part-time electric vehicles anymore

Plug-in hybrids have been popular with car buyers for years, while electric cars are becoming more popular but are far from keeping up. But those times are apparently over. Combustion engines with an additional battery are now fighting a losing battle.

In March, new registrations in Germany increased again. This records 281,361 newly registered cars Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) for the past month. This means that new registrations have increased by 16.6 percent compared to March 2022.

E-cars triumph: Buyers ignore plug-in hybrids

Only a small part of the increase is accounted for by privately used vehicles (2.1 percent). The bulk of this was made up of commercial cars. However, a look at the (partially) electric drives reveals an exciting change in trend: Pure electric cars (BEV) are taking the lead.

Total were 15.7 percent of all new registrations with battery-electric drives fitted. That corresponds to 44,125 purely electric cars. The share of BEVs in new registrations increases by 28 percent compared to the previous year.

Plug-in hybrids (PHEV), on the other hand, want significantly fewer German drivers: Only 16,776 hybrids with charging port is listed by the KBA in March 2023. Their share of new registrations has thus fallen to 6 percent. Compared to the previous year, the plug-in hybrids have thus fallen rapidly, 38.5 percent less were admitted.

The reason for the shift in the electrical sector should be clear: the federal government has been paying since the turn of the year no more environmental bonus for plug-in hybrids. The subsidy for pure electric cars has also fallen. Nevertheless, there is at least one bonus at all.

Many manufacturers are likely to be watching this development closely: With the possible exception of VW, the mixed drive of combustion engines and battery-electric still plays a major role for many car manufacturers. kia, Opel, BMW or Toyota for example, all of them also rely on models with purely electric drives, but in the next few years they will continue to do so many plug-in hybrids.

The question of the drive also depends on the cost:

BEV vs. PHEV: Comeback for plug-in hybrids not excluded

In view of the current new registrations, it is doubtful that they will be particularly well received by car buyers in Germany. However, the next two years will still be decisive: By 2025 at the latest, the environmental bonus for pure electric cars will also come to an end. Then could once again strike the hour of PHEVs.