China and Norway still dominate electric cars

In the Middle Kingdom, Chinese automakers increasingly dominated the electric car market and turned into serious competitors of established builders, according to a study by the FAO Bergisch Gladbach Institute presented Thursday. In the top 20 seats of the best-selling e-models, the US company Tesla – number 19 with the X model – is the only foreign manufacturer.

In the first half, about 412,000 electric cars were sold in China, an increase of 111%. The market share of new registrations rose from 0.8% to 2%. In Norway, 35,788 electric cars were sold, 32% more than a year earlier. According to the study, the proportion of new registrations has reached "amazing" 46.6%, compared to 34.9% the previous year.

"China's first electric mobility market, stands out more and more from other automotive regions such as Europe and the United States." Stefan Bratzel's study The number of registrations has also increased there.New registrations have climbed 35% in the first half, to more than 117,000 vehicles on the second largest electric vehicle market in the United States, because sales increased from 1.0 to 1.4%

The German market also increased significantly by 51% compared to the first half of 2017 to 33 917 new registered electric vehicles. market grew from 1.3 to "1.8% on average worldwide." Pure electric cars grew more strongly than plug-in hybrids with a more than 69% (plus 36%).

In the same time, new vehicle registrations diesel in Germany continued to decline considerably, according to the study. In June, their market share was still 31.2%, down 16.2 percentage points from the previous year. At the same time, the number of new petrol engine registrations has increased significantly.

Innovations in the electric mobility of batteries are currently not driven by German manufacturers, according to the study. Tesla and Renault, as well as Nissan and General Motors are leading in this category. The Chinese automakers BAIC, BYD and Dongfeng are pushing ahead of the German suppliers Daimler, VW and BMW. "Germany is not, with its builders, a leading provider of pure electric mobility," Bratzel said. However, there is a good chance of catching up in the early 2020s.

According to the study, only modest growth rates for electric mobility are expected over the next two years. From 2020, however, the institute expects a "significant increase in market dynamics". Strong growth is expected for Germany and the EU – just to reach the EU's stricter CO2 limits, while carbon dioxide emissions are currently increasing in Germany.

dpa