EV Production in Germany Nearly Doubles

New numbers concerning the manufacturing of electric vehicles reveal the breadth of the transformation of mobility and the automotive sector in Germany. According to the Federal Statistical Office, 86 percent more EVs were produced in 2021 compared with the previous year. Exports rose by 92 percent over the same period.

By contrast the number of combustion-engine vehicles produced dropped by 23 percent year on year. The 328,000 purely electric vehicles manufactured were valued at around EUR 13.7 billion, up from EUR 8 billion in 2020.

Germany Trade & Invest automotive expert Stefan Di Bitonto attributes the quantum growth in the numbers to two related factors. State and carmaker subsidies of up to EUR 9000 on purely electric vehicles are encouraging consumers to buy them. And amidst bottlenecks in microchips and other automotive components, carmakers are choosing to produce EVs because they are more profitable.

These trends look unlikely to change dramatically at present, especially as Germany’s Ministry of Digital and Transport is reportedly considering plans to extend the subsidies for pure EVs and increase the sums involved.

“Whatever technologies come out on top, the next two decades are set to produce more automotive disruption, innovation and change than the 130 years preceding them,” says Di Bitonto. “This is an excellent time for international automotive companies without a foothold in Germany to set up shop here. All the more so, if they are involved in electric mobility or comparable innovations.”