Electric Mobility in Germany: Untapped Potential

Wolf-Peter Schill

DIW Weekly Report, 2026, vol. 16, issue 9, 67-75

Abstract: A rapid transition from combustion engines to electric vehicles is essential for climate protection in road transport. This report highlights current trends in electric mobility in Germany based on data from the Open Energy Tracker platform. Although new registrations of electric passenger cars and commercial vehicles have recently increased, overall, electric mobility is still developing slowly. Newly registered electric cars are predominantly from German and European manufacturers and are larger than average. Among commercial vehicles, the momentum for electric semi-trucks is particularly high. A comparatively large share of the bus fleet is already electric. The expansion of the charging infrastructure is progressing, with the number of fast chargers growing faster than the vehicle fleet in recent years. To accelerate the transition, policymakers should not only focus on financial incentives such as the new electric car subsidy or tax breaks for commercially used passenger cars, but above all create technological clarity by clearly prioritizing battery-electric vehicles and creating the appropriate framework conditions for their ramp-up. The currently discussed softening of CO2 fleet limits in the European Union is not helpful in this regard.

Keywords: Electric mobility; battery-electric vehicles (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q40 Q58 R4 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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