The numbers:
As a result, EVs now have 28.4% of the total German car market, whereas hybrids have a 28.1% market share. Pure gasoline models ended last month with a 20.5% share, while diesel-powered cars took home 11.4% and PHEVs got 10.9% of the pie.
Splitting gas diesel and hybrids is misleading in this stat. Once EV beats all of the above, true progress is on the horizon.
Not really as they mostly have different rolls.
Diesel is pretty much limited to commercial usage. I'm sure some idiot is driving a diesel truck around but that's not common.
The remaining are all commuter based yes, but the hybrid at least indicates the market is preferring cost saving measures over traditional gas. I would expect hybrid sales to transition to EVs as they drop in price and as battery tech improves.
Honestly for the average hybrid buyer they likely only pick that over an EV due to Germany's insanely high electric prices. Highest in the EU if I recall.
If Germany got their electricity prices under control I'd expect a portion of that market to switch.
Also the last hurdle may be access to charging stations. Charging at home is the most affordable, but there are not many Germans with parking and charging access. I know at my Oma's apartment they have like 4 parking spots (no charging) per building and then everyone fights for street parking. Infrastructure has a long way to go to make EV viable for the average German.
Diesel is pretty much limited to commercial usage. I'm sure some idiot is driving a diesel truck around but that's not common.
That's not really true for Germany. Diesel is still common for commuter cars, I see it a lot with station wagons for example.
Quite odd given the price, I'd love to see the number on that
You can get diesel wagons that do 4l/100km extraurban. Makes up for the little fuel price difference. Every other used car imported to Estonia is a diesel that started its life in Germany.
There are currently about 230k diesel cars on sale on mobile.de that aren't classified as SUVs, pickup trucks or vans. I even excluded minivans from the search. If you add all the crossover SUVs (VW T-whatever, BMW Xwhatever, Audi Qwhatever), you'll have even more and those are still not really trucks.
I drive a 27 year old TDI Skoda that gets 4-5 l/100km. on the road.
And belches all kinds of Nox emissions making Europe a hotspot of lung diseases.
My now over 20 years old Mercedes did about 5 when I had it. An E-Class wagon, so not a very small or light car. 2.7 liter inline 5 diesel.
My current nearly 20 year old Audi doesn't match it but that's because it has full-time AWD and I got the wrong version of the 3.0 tdi, with 171 kW not 176. 176 has higher injection pressure and a newer Bosch EDC version (17 vs 16) that does more with pilot injections and everything, giving it an extra 50 Nm of torque AND ~2 liters less fuel consumption. Right now I'm doing 6-7, but the car is also hilariously quick since it's remapped. Oh well, at least I have the Bosch CP3 pump so I won't have to worry about metal in my fuel shavings like the CP4 folks.
Diesel is usually cheaper in Germany because of lower taxes on it. It only gets turned around in crisis situations like the current Iran war because commercial vehicles and industry use it too.
The hybrids aren't a consumer choice, companies like BMW, MB and Audi put MHEV technology on their normal diesel and petrol engines these days so they could call them hybrids. It's a 48V integrated starter-generator, it only really helps when accelerating from a stop, but at the very least it's cheap to add compared to a proper hybrid battery and extra motors and whatnot.
Diesel is pretty much limited to commercial usage. I’m sure some idiot is driving a diesel truck around but that’s not common.
11.4% pure diesel, but I'd wager a lot of the hybrids are diesel hybrids. From all the big German companies, if you buy a diesel now, it'll be a diesel mild hybrid at least.
And if you click on the source data link in the article, you'll find that it was only new Pkw registrations, not Lkw. Personenkraftwagen = people carrying vehicle, Lastkraftwagen = cargo carrying vehicle. And you can even register pickup trucks as N1 instead of M1 making them Lkw rather than Pkw. If you were to register a large American pickup truck, you'd probably better off registering it as a cargo vehicle so you'd be taxed on weight rather than on its gigantic engine.
Now that's one fine looking car market and use of renewable energy!
Amerikkka: WHY DOESN'T MINE LOOK LIKE THAT?!
One of my recently aquired hobbies is triggering guys with big diesel trucks by darting through traffic in my dorky little EV faster than they can keep up. "Yes, that's a super cloud of black smoke, did that make you feel better little buddy?"
You wouldn't believe the push they have for EVs in Europe. The US and Canada are lagging so far behind because of the oil lobby its not even a joke.
B-b-b-b-but the gas lobby told me people want diesel!! /j
In my local market EVs got a big jump as well. Thank you Trump! Managed to show the whole world that relying on fossil fuels means rellying on a handful of dictators to not get mad.
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
