According to an analysis by The smarter E Europe on the international market launch of e-mobility, Germany leads with a high proportion of electric vehicles in its fleet. At the end of 2024, battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) made up nearly 4% of the total passenger car fleet. This puts Germany ahead of the USA (1.7%), South Korea (2.1%), and Japan (0.7%).
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In absolute terms, the USA leads the way with 4.8 million electrified vehicles, followed by Germany with 2.4 million, Japan and South Korea with over 500,000 BEVs and PHEVs each. It is noteworthy that in the bus segment, South Korea and the USA have significantly more electric vehicles on the roads than Germany – around three times as many.
Germany, Belgium and Netherlands are the drivers
The picture in the EU is mixed. While new passenger car registrations fell by 3.4% in February 2025, BEV sales rose by 28.4% to 255,489 units. This increased the market share of fully electric vehicles to 15.2%. Three of the four largest markets contributed significantly to the growth of BEVs:
Germany: +41%
Belgium: +38%
Netherlands: +25%
Only France recorded a decline of 1.3%. Nevertheless, France remains a stable market with over 183,000 new registrations in February. Overall, the momentum of e-mobility in Europe remains positive.
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As of 1 January 2025, the total number of passenger cars in Germany was 49,339,166. This included 3.35 million battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and 1.96 million plug-in hybrids (PHEVs).
In February 2025, 17.7% of vehicles sold in Germany were electric and 9.6% were plug-in hybrids. In the period from March 2024 to February 2025, the figures were 14.3% for electric vehicles and 7.16% for plug-in hybrids.
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With a political target of 15 million electric cars in 2025 (= 100%), 11.3% electric and 6.5% plug-in hybrids were achieved, which corresponds to about one-fifth of the target.
Significant expansion of the charging infrastructure
The charging infrastructure in Germany was significantly expanded in 2024, with around 30,000 new charging points and an additional 1.5 GW of installed charging capacity added. This represents an increase of 39.0% in the number of charging points and 25.4% in charging capacity compared to 2023. Demand is met at 122% across Germany and 73% in the five largest cities, pointing to regional expansion potential and structural deficits.
E-mobility is the focus of the Power2Drive Europe trade fair, which is taking place under the umbrella of The smarter E Europe from 7 to 9 May in Munich. (hcn)
