The slowdown in the electric car market is only temporary

Compared to the spectacular increase in recent years, the global expansion in demand for electric vehicles this year was more modest. While the proportion of consumers planning to buy such cars jumped from 30 percent to 55 percent between 2020 and 2023, the figures show a growth of only 3 percentage points this year.

27 percent of respondents are mostly hesitant due to the lack of charging infrastructure, while a quarter are concerned about range. The latest survey data also shows for the first time fears about the high cost of replacing batteries: this risk was mentioned by 26 percent of potential buyers.

High fuel prices will continue to be the main reason consumers will buy an electric car in 2024, with more than a third of the survey participants citing this as the most decisive reason. Meanwhile, environmental considerations have taken a back seat. In 2021, almost half of those surveyed cited these as motivating factors, while this year only a third did so.

The big winners from the spread of electric cars are Chinese manufacturers, who have made significant progress in the sector worldwide in recent years. In European EV sales alone, the share of Chinese models increased from 0.4 percentage points to 8 between 2019 and 2023. For buyers in Europe, the two main factors that would make them consider a Chinese EV brand are the favorable price-performance ratio and the attractive vehicle range.