German EV Market Has Doubled Since Last Year
The German electric vehicle market has nearly doubled in size since last year (comparing new sales in September 2014 to new sales in September 2013).
To be specific — the market saw 1,099 electric vehicles registered in September, bringing the share of the market belonging to electric vehicles up to 0.46%. That’s about twice the percentage held by electric vehicles last September — 0.23%.
The month’s sales are split pretty evenly between some of the major names in the field — with offerings from Nissan, Renault, Smart, and BMW all seeing good sales.
To be exact — the Smart Fortwo Electric Drive led the sales in September, with 186 units sold (17% of EV sales); followed by the Nissan Leaf, with 176 units sold (16% of EV sales); and the BMW i3, with 131 units sold (12% of EV sales). These sales leaders were followed by the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, with 91 units sold (8%); and the Renault Zoe, with 78 sold (7%).
The numbers from September changed the overall year-to-date rankings just ever so slightly — nudging the Nissan Leaf up to the #6 position (7% of the EV market), from #7. The gain comes at the expense of the Tesla Model S (now 5% of the EV market), which has yet to make a real dent in the German market. The BMW i3 (20% of the market), VW e-Up! (12% of the market), and smart electric drive (11%) are leading the pack for the year to date.
EV-Sales.blogspot notes: “At the middle of the ranking, the Mitsu I-Miev climbed one position to #15, whereas the Opel Ampera was down to #16…And to think that just last year the Opel PHEV ended at #6 and in 2012 it was even runner-up to the Twizy!”
It adds: “The Mercedes products are (very) slowly climbing positions, with the B-Class ED #20, with 27 units sold until now, while the S500 Plug-In is #22. The B-Class performance in particular looks particularly poor, after the same three months on sale, the technologically more complex BMW i3 had already sold 151 units — a case of lack of stock or demand?”
Overall, a doubling of EV sales is still a big positive, but 0.46% of the market is still tiny. The Germans, unlike the Norwegians, just can’t seem to be motivated to buy that many electric cars, even when the electric cars in question are homegrown.
Below is a table of the September and year-to-date stats for more details. Note that they are not 100% accurate, come from the EV-Sales blogspot, and include estimates for some VW models.
Source: EV Obsession. Reprinted with permission.
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Strange the Germans just don’t get it yet, but I’m sure they will
The Germans are very patriotic when it comes to auto sales. The Smart ED and VW e-Up both do way better there than anywhere else in the world. The Model S and Leaf are taking a far lower share than they do elsewhere.
When more German EVs come out, we’ll probably see more sales.
Ahah, I don’t think Germans are anywhere near as patriotic as Americans.
I think with automobiles, they are.
When it comes to auto sales, the US is the least patriotic of any large country.
Japan buys over 90% domestic:
http://www.best-selling-cars.com/japan/2013-full-year-japan-best-selling-car-manufacturers-brands/
The top 5 brands in Germany are domestic:
http://www.best-selling-cars.com/germany/2014-q3-germany-best-selling-car-brands-models/
Adding in Seat and Skoda (owned by VW), that’s over 60% of the market.
Domestic plugins are needed, and they’re coming soon from VW group and eventually Mercedes.
Germans do get it (I am one after all). But you have to consider we don´t have any incentives here, so they are too expensive for most people. Also models like the Leaf became available pretty late.
What about cost of fuel?
With Europe’s high fuel costs I would have thought EVs would have been an instant hit.
With its small size (easier parking) I wonder why Europe’s streets aren’t dominated by Smart EVs.
Two car families are far less common in Europe, which makes PHEV more likely.
Most people don´t want to buy a new 30.000€ car , if they can get a perfectly fine used car for like 5000€.
Rational thinking is probably the wrong way to solve your question.
A Tesla costs about the same to fuel at home in Germany than an average diesel ICE-car. Efficient diesels + expensive electricity is not a good combination for EV’s.
That is some big bullshit.
Average household electricity price for Germany was €0,292 per kWh in 2013 according to eurostats.
The Tesla uses about 30 kWh per 100 km from the grid. That is €8,76.
The average diesel price in Germany is €1,34 per liter in Germany right now. The average new diesel car uses about 5 liters per 100 km. That is €6,7.
So you’re right. It’s bullshit that the cost to fuel it is about the same since it’s 24% cheaper then with a diesel car.
I’m very pro EV’s but it doesn’t change the fact that it’s not always cheaper to fuel it compared to ICE’s.
Tesla needs to be adapted for the autobahn. The new P85D with the magic 155mph limit now puts it in line with the other German manufacturers, who observe this rather informal speed limit. Should see greater sales there as long as it can sustain high speed.
Ya! Go Smart ED!
Just another reminder how HUGE the US is compared to most other countries. :/
Indeed. Living in Europe, I am more inclined these days to compare the EU to the US. the EU is much more populated (except geographically — still smaller), but compares much better than the EU’s most populated country. on GDP, the US and the EU are very similar:
US population = 316 million
EU population = 507 million
Germany population = 81 million
US GDP = 16.8 trillion
EU GDP = 13 trillion
Germany GDP = 3.6 trillion