By May 15, 2017 Read More →

Germany likely to miss EV sales target by wide margin – Merkel

German EVs

The Merkel government set a goal of 1 million German EVs on the road by the end of the decade. It looks as if the most populous country in Europe will fall far short of this objective. BMW photo.

Less than 80,000 German EVs on roads

On Monday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said it was unlikely that her country would meet the government’s target of putting 1 million electric cars on roads by the end of the decade.

“As it looks at the moment, we will not achieve this goal,” Merkel told fellow members the the center-right CDU/CSU bloc.

German EVs have not sold well so far, despite the introduction of discounts last year.  In 2016, there were less than 80,000 EVs on German roads.

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According to analysts, German consumers are reluctant to buy electric vehicles because of relatively high prices, limited driving range and a low number of charging stations.

Reuters reports there were 7,400 charging stations in German as of 2016.

Consumers also balk at the time it takes to charge vehicle batteries when gasoline tanks can be refilled quickly.

Merkel does add that a mass market breakthrough, similar to the popularity of the smartphone, is possible for battery-powered cars.

 

 

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