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Düsseldorf (dpa / lnw) - Despite all the discussions about less car traffic and regardless of the temporary closure of the car dealerships in the corona pandemic, the number of vehicles in North Rhine-Westphalia has continued to rise.
According to the Federal Motor Transport Authority, the entire fleet had grown to a good 10.3 million cars nationwide by October 1, 2020. That was almost 100,000 vehicles more than at the beginning of 2020. The number of new registrations was also high in October and November and reached roughly the values of the same months of the previous year.
The car density in the most populous federal state remains high.
At the beginning of the year, according to figures from the State Statistical Office, there were 570 passenger cars for every 1000 inhabitants.
The high number of cars is also noticeable in the environmental balance.
According to the State Office for the Environment, Nature and Consumer Protection (Lanuv), greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector in North Rhine-Westphalia increased slightly after a few years with a downward trend from 2018 to 2019.
More recent figures are not available.
One reason is the increase in new vehicle registrations, according to the state government's new climate protection report.
Road traffic accounts for 90 percent of the emissions from the transport sector.
The passenger cars are in turn responsible for almost 71 percent of the pollutant emissions from road traffic.
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The state government is therefore relying on the expansion of electromobility.
Every 20th car that is newly registered in North Rhine-Westphalia is now a battery vehicle, according to the climate report.
In October 2020, more than 44,000 electric cars were registered nationwide - a good twice as many as a year earlier.
By the end of the year, the North Rhine-Westphalia Ministry of Economics was expecting well over 50,000 battery vehicles in the state.
Stock of motor vehicles
New registrations October 2020
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New registrations November 2020
State statistical office on car density
Climate protection report of the NRW state government