(de-news.net) – Ownership of electric vehicles — either battery electric cars or plug-in hybrids — continued to display pronounced disparities across income levels and household types in Germany in 2023, according to new figures released by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). Among households with a monthly net income below 2,600 euros, electric vehicle ownership remained marginal, with only 1.3 percent reporting possession of at least one such car. As income levels rose, adoption increased in a gradual and linear fashion: 3.5 percent of households earning between 2,600 and 3,600 euros per month owned an electric or plug-in hybrid vehicle, while the share climbed to 5.4 percent among those with monthly incomes between 3,600 and 5,000 euros.
A markedly different pattern emerged at the upper end of the income distribution, where 13.4 percent of households earning 5,000 euros or more per month reported owning one or more electrified vehicles. Taken together, these figures underscore that, despite ongoing market growth, electric mobility in 2023 remained concentrated among higher-income households. Overall, 6.0 percent of private households owned at least one electric or plug-in hybrid vehicle, compared with roughly 80 percent of households that owned at least one passenger car of any type, regardless of drivetrain.
Household composition further shaped ownership patterns. Couples with children under the age of 18 were substantially more likely to own an electric or plug-in hybrid vehicle than couples without children, with ownership rates of 11.5 percent and 7.5 percent, respectively. Differences by the number of children were present but relatively moderate, with adoption rates among couples with one or more children generally falling within a range of approximately 10 to 13 percent. In contrast, single-person households showed markedly lower levels of adoption, with only 2.2 percent reporting ownership of an electric or plug-in hybrid vehicle, highlighting the role of household size, mobility needs, and purchasing power.
New and leased vehicles drive uptake
In terms of vehicle acquisition, electric cars in these households were predominantly new or leased rather than purchased second-hand. Nearly half of households owning an electric or plug-in hybrid vehicle reported having at least one newly purchased model, while a similar proportion relied on leasing arrangements, reflecting both high upfront costs and the role of leasing in lowering entry barriers. By comparison, used electric vehicles accounted for just over 15 percent of these households, indicating that the secondary market for such vehicles remained relatively limited during the period under review.
Market-level data point to renewed momentum in new vehicle registrations. In 2025, electric-powered passenger cars accounted for 30.0 percent of all new registrations, representing a sharp increase from 20.3 percent in the previous year. Of the approximately 856,500 newly registered electric vehicles, battery electric vehicles alone made up 19.1 percent of total new passenger car registrations, compared with 13.5 percent in 2024. These figures suggest a strengthening shift toward full electrification within the broader category of electric drivetrains.
Destatis also emphasized that the expansion of charging infrastructure remains a critical prerequisite for broader adoption. As of January 1, 2025, Germany had more than 160,000 publicly accessible charging points, including nearly 36,000 fast-charging stations. However, significant regional disparities persist. Southern states such as Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, along with coastal regions along the North Sea, are comparatively well supplied, whereas several eastern states continue to lag behind. On average, drivers nationwide require about seven minutes to reach the nearest public charging station. This average masks substantial variation, with access times of two to five minutes common in densely populated urban areas, while in sparsely populated regions travel times can extend to as much as thirty minutes.
Charging gaps persist
Against this backdrop, the announcement by Environment Minister Carsten Schneider outlining key elements of a new electric vehicle subsidy prompted mixed reactions. The German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) welcomed the initiative in principle but argued that financial incentives alone would be insufficient to ensure sustained market expansion. Its leadership stressed that long-term progress would depend on a combination of reliable and widespread charging infrastructure, affordable electricity prices, additional user-oriented advantages, and favorable industrial and investment conditions. Without these complementary factors, the association warned, subsidy programs risk delivering only temporary effects.
More pronounced skepticism was expressed by Felix Banaszak, the chair of the Green Party. While acknowledging the proposal’s intention to introduce a socially balanced approach, he pointed to repeated delays as undermining its credibility. He also criticized the lack of clear linkage to European manufacturers and questioned the continued inclusion of plug-in hybrids within the support framework. In his assessment, the federal government’s concurrent resistance to stricter European Union phase-out rules for combustion engines weakened its stated commitment to electric mobility and risked reducing the subsidy initiative to a largely symbolic measure rather than a driver of structural change.
