Demand for electric and hybrid vehicles is increasing – combustion engines continue to outnumber them

Created: 05/02/2022, 19:00

Electric cars are becoming more popular, but still only account for a small proportion of registrations.

© DPA

E-mobility is on the rise.

Figures from the District Attorney's Office confirm this.

Nevertheless, there are a few points on this topic that are currently still preventing customers from buying an electric car.

Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen – In times of ever increasing fuel prices and climate change, electric and hybrid vehicles are the means of choice.

So far, petrol and diesel cars have been the dominant vehicles on the road.

However, it is apparent that e-mobility is also on the rise in the district, albeit slowly.

Combustion engines continue to dominate in the district

This is evident from the registration numbers of the district office.

"Basically, there has been an increase in electric and hybrid vehicles over the past few years," says authority spokeswoman Sabine Schmid.

However, combustion engines continue to dominate.

Of the 112,595 vehicles registered (as of 2021), 108,204 were petrol or diesel.

Only 1070 electric and 2792 hybrid vehicles were on the roads.

The proportion of registered electric vehicles is therefore less than one percent, hybrid vehicles come to 2.5 percent.

You can find more current news from the region around Bad Tölz at Merkur.de/Bad Tölz.

Slight increase in hybrid and electric cars

If you compare the number of car registration procedures from 2020 and 2021, there is a slight trend towards electromobility.

The registered hybrid and electric cars increased in 2021 compared to the previous year from 1522 to 2076 and 529 to 841 respectively.

This corresponds to an increase of around 38 or 59 percent.

On the other hand, there is a slight decline in combustion engines.

While diesel and petrol engines still accounted for around 88 percent of passenger car registrations in 2020, in 2021 it was only around 83 percent.

State subsidies an incentive for electric vehicles?

"I can clearly confirm this trend," says Franziska Rinkel from the Autozentrum Isarring in Lenggries.

There she works in sales and marketing.

According to her, the increase in electric and hybrid cars sold is partly due to state subsidies.

Electric vehicles are funded with sums of up to 9000 euros, for plug-in hybrids you get up to 6000 euros.

As a result, these vehicles are only slightly above the price level of combustion engines.

On the other hand, e-cars would have significantly shorter delivery times.

One factor that can influence the purchasing decision is tax advantages.

“No vehicle tax has to be paid for electric cars,” explains Rinkel.

Even with rising fuel prices, an electric vehicle has an advantage over a combustion engine.

"All in all, you can save with an e-car, but the question arises as to the long-term," she explains, referring to the service life of the vehicles.

Poor charging infrastructure requires good planning

However, the insufficiently developed charging infrastructure is currently problematic.

So far, this has kept some customers from buying an electric car.

"The trend must be towards an expansion of charging stations," demands Rinkel.

An e-car is well suited for the city or short distances, but planning is a little more complex for longer trips.

"You have to find out beforehand where the charging stations are," says Rinkel.

A corresponding app can help here, for example.

Some customers are put off by the short range

Electric and hybrid cars are also in great demand at the Michael Schmidt car dealership, as Thomas Huber, manager of the branches in Bad Tölz and Wolfratshausen, reports.

However, there are also some customers here who have previously shied away from buying electric cars.

"The crux of the matter is that the range of the batteries is too short," explains Huber.

There is a trend towards e-mobility, but it is still a "huge challenge"

There is also the question of how owners can charge their cars at home.

According to the branch manager, not everyone has a garage with a charging station.

Huber expects the trend in electric mobility to continue.

Especially since more and more manufacturers no longer want to produce combustion engines in the future.

Overall, however, the topic of electromobility remains a “huge challenge”.

While you can see a gradual move away from the combustion engine in cars overall, the situation is very different for buses and trucks: As the figures from the district office show, all 27 buses registered last year are diesel-powered.

With a total of 1728 truck registrations, the diesel quota is more than 90 percent.

By Franziska Selter

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