Germany is the leading market for electromobility in Europe.

Never before have there been so many fully electric cars on Germany's roads as in the past year.

As a result of the reduction in purchase premiums, the last record year 2021 was again clearly exceeded in 2022.

Customers are willing to accept waiting times of more than a year for ordered e-cars.

This underlines how attractive and accepted electromobility is in this country.

Clean mobility combined with driving comfort and fun is desired.

And the development of the charging offer is rated very positively by the users.

The chicken and egg problem in the market no longer exists.

The cornerstones of success are clear: Tesla has proven that e-mobility is attractive.

Other automakers have followed suit.

Equally important is the regulatory pressure on CO2 fleet limits, which has been tightened since 2020 and 2021.

And of course the purchase premiums played an important role.

Since then the whole market has been moving.

The basis for success has been laid

Electromobility is a priority for German manufacturers, and they have strong new competitors from the USA and China.

At the same time, satisfaction among e-mobility drivers is very high.

The basis for a successful electromobility market has therefore been laid.

Despite the great acceptance and demand for electric cars, the current market dynamics are not sufficient to achieve the climate targets in the transport sector.

The number of registrations must increase much faster in order to have 15 million e-cars on the roads by 2030.

After all, the high demand shows that there is potential for higher registration numbers.

This year it will therefore be important that there is an expansion of the vehicle range and thus a further increase in new registrations.

Above all, attractive products – especially affordable small cars with electric drives –, innovative competition and the clear prospect for manufacturers and service providers of earning money are decisive for the market growth phase that has now been reached.

This applies equally to the vehicle side and to the expansion of charging options.

The promotion and subsidy policy of the market start-up phase cannot achieve this.

Instead, politicians must now consistently align the framework conditions with electromobility.

First, Germany needs a "15 million e-car strategy" that strengthens the supply side so that the 15 million fully electric passenger cars in 2030 can still be reached.

We need more electric cars on Germany's roads!

With its Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the USA is showing how the attractiveness of building and selling electric cars can be massively strengthened with tax incentives.

Just addressing the demand side with purchase premiums or the "Charging Infrastructure Master Plan II" does not help to strengthen the range of vehicles.

Secondly, Germany too often stands in its own way when it comes to regulation.

In order for the charging offer to be successfully expanded further, it must of course also be possible to set up charging stations in public streets and on publicly owned areas.

Subsidy policy must be readjusted

And of course bureaucratic hurdles have to be removed: Why do the state building codes have different requirements for the dimensions of charging stations?

Why are public tenders associated with technical and visual specifications for charging stations that go beyond the legal requirements?

Imagine that a petrol pump from the same mineral oil chain in Berlin has to be gray with the “be Berlin” lettering and white-blue in Munich?

And a regulation example that is particularly painful from an economic and technical point of view: In Germany and also in Europe, the installation of payment terminals with a PIN pad at every charging station will soon be mandatory.

The idea is that, in addition to the established payment methods via charging card/app or smartphone and QR code, anyone should be able to pay with an EC card at any charging station.

That this is absurd becomes clear when you ask yourself whether someone will not have a smartphone in 2030 and whether they will still be paying with physical EC cards?

Here, Germany does not live up to its claim to be the leading market and the motto "digitization first".

Unfortunately, the federal government's "Charging Infrastructure Master Plan II" does not give hope that these points will be resolved in the near future.

Conclusion: Electromobility has arrived on the market.

The high demand and the high level of acceptance are a very good basis for electromobility to get into the fast lane and for the climate protection goals in the transport sector to be achieved after all.

The funding policy of the past will not be sufficient for this, the policy must be readjusted and focus on innovation and competition.

The first, urgently needed step is a real “15 million e-car strategy”, with which the range of vehicles will be strengthened in line with demand.

Kerstin Andreae is chairwoman of the Federal Association of Energy and Water Management eV (BDEW).