Almost everyone drives with a combustion engine – the proportion of e-cars is negligible

Created: 08/17/2022, 10:26 am

By: Christian Einfeldt

More cars are on the road again in Hamburg.

Meanwhile, the proportion of e-cars remains small.

The Greens are still confident.

Hamburg – In times of the climate crisis, it is more important than ever to meet the desired mobility turnaround.

The effects have recently been felt and could result in the Finkenwerder district of Hamburg being swallowed up by masses of water in just 80 years.

Evaluations that showed a few months ago that there were fewer and fewer cars on the streets of Hamburg gave hope.

Was it just a short trend?

Current figures now show that the number of cars with petrol and diesel engines is increasing again.

At the same time, significantly more people drive e-cars in Hamburg compared to the national average - the proportion remains low, however, reports 24hamburg.de.

Above-average number of e-cars in Hamburg - but the proportion remains manageable

For the future, politicians are fully committed to electromobility: by 2030, 15 million electric cars should be driving on Germany's roads.

The Greens in particular have set themselves the task of banning combustion engines from Hamburg by 2030.

That would then also apply to the Hamburg police, who should then only drive electric cars from 2030.

The e-car boom is taking hold in society – the proportion of newly registered e-cars is only increasing slightly.

The national average is just 1.3 percent.

Measured against all registered vehicles, it is still 8.1 percent in Hamburg - a number with which it is difficult to achieve the climate-political goals.

The limited number of charging options across Europe continues to contribute to the fact that there are no longer any e-cars on the road.

According to the requirements of the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA), 6.8 million charging stations are to be added across Europe.

Does that increase the incentive to buy?

In addition, the increased costs for charging also play a decisive role in the debate.

Charging at Hamburg charging stations was already 70 percent more expensive on May 1st, and prices in Hamburg rose again by 37 percent on August 1st.

Traffic in Hamburg: the number of cars is increasing – how is e-mobility developing in the Hanseatic city?

So how is the e-car boom doing now?

As the Tagesschau reports, Europe is now the world's largest e-car market. While sales of combustion engines were declining, there were more and more new registrations of e-cars, especially in times of the corona pandemic.

From 2020 to 2021 the number rose from 539,000 to 878,000.

According to Tagesschau reports, Germany is even said to be the country that sells the most battery-powered vehicles.

Hamburg is one of the cities in which the most e-cars are on the road.

In Hamburg, people prefer to drive with combustion engines - and hardly ever e-cars © Georg Wendt/Daniel Bockwoldt/dpa/Montage

According to information from the Hamburger Abendblatt, 30,464 hybrid cars and 18,352 plug-in hybrid cars were counted at the end of June 2022.

Compared to the previous figures, this corresponds to a doubling.

Nevertheless, it seems to be only a small part that relies on the more climate-friendly alternative of mobility in Hamburg.

A response from the Senate to a small inquiry from the Hamburg CDU now also shows that by July 2022, more and more petrol and diesel engines were on the road again.

Before that, the Hamburg traffic authority celebrated declining numbers twice in a row.

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Mobility turnaround in Hamburg: How to classify the current figures

There can be no talk of a definitive breakthrough for electromobility in Hamburg in 2022.

The proportion of 8.1 percent is too low for this.

Just as little can be denied, however, that the mobility turnaround in Hamburg is in full swing.

In any case, given the current figures, there is no reason to panic from circles in the Hamburg transport authority.

Dennis Heinert, spokesman for Transport Senator Anjes Tjarks (Greens), told the Hamburger Abendblatt: "Particularly when viewed quarterly, the registration figures for passenger cars are very strongly influenced by individual events such as company relocations or temporary phenomena such as delivery problems."

"In this respect, two quarters of falling car numbers are just as little a breakthrough of the mobility turnaround as a quarter of increasing numbers is their end," it continues.

According to Hamburg's CDU transport politician Richard Seelmaecker, the reasons for the recent decline in car use are also reflected in the Ukraine war and the corona pandemic.

Both companies and private individuals have recently refrained from making large investments - but sales of e-cars in Hamburg increased during this time.

As the Abendblatt reports, it was only 3.9 percent at the end of 2020 and 8.1 percent in summer 2022.

An upward trend that at first glance does not seem to play a major role in Hamburg's road traffic.

Does the final establishment of e-mobility just need a little more time or is the first big hype already over?

The question remains unanswered for now.