Germany aims to have 14m electric cars in use by 2030 

The forecast is at least 40% higher than a previous estimate thanks to a recent surge in electric vehicle sales

Germany plans to have 14 million electric and plug-in hybrid cars on its roads by 2030.

Germany expects to have 14 million electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles on its roads by 2030 as Europe’s biggest economy attempts to comply with increasingly stringent emissions rules.

The forecast is at least 40% higher than a previous estimate thanks to a recent surge in electric vehicle - or EV - sales, Germany’s Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said. 

Germany expected to have about 1 million such cars on its roads this month.

“This is good news for climate protection and decarbonisation,” Mr Altmaier said. “It’s also bound to have an impact on electricity consumption.”

The EU is set to propose that all new cars sold from 2035 should have zero emissions, as part of an unprecedented plan to align its economy with more ambitious climate targets.

Germany’s government expects the surging EV sales to push up electricity demand to about 655 terawatt-hours by 2030, Mr Altmaier said, citing preliminary estimates. 

Consumption in Germany was 568 TWhs in 2018, according to the International Energy Agency.

Carmakers have, in recent months, announced plans for most or all of their sales in Europe to be battery-electric by the end of the decade. 

Volkswagen, the EU’s largest manufacturer, plans for more than 70% of its namesake brand sales to be EV from 2030 onward.

Volkswagen, earlier this month, extended chief executive Herbert Diess’s contract by two years, to October 2025, giving fresh backing to the boss overseeing the most aggressive push into electric vehicles by an established carmaker.

-Bloomberg

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