Demand for electric cars is also falling in Switzerland
Published: Monday, Oct 14th 2024, 09:20
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The Swiss car trade's climate targets are faltering. Demand for electric cars is falling. Car importers are calling for political measures. Meanwhile, dealers are betting on cheaper models soon.
An electric car can have many advantages: only electricity costs instead of fuel costs, no CO2 emissions, lower maintenance costs.
However, many people are still reluctant to buy one. Be it because of the high price of a new e-car, the lack of charging options or the rather low resale values.
E-car sales are sluggish
So far, however, the triumphant advance of the electric car in Switzerland appears to be virtually unstoppable. According to figures from the Federal Statistical Office (FSO), around 98% of cars on the country's roads in 2014 were pure petrol or diesel vehicles; last year, this figure was just over 88%. Of the remaining 12 percent, however, only just over 3 percent are purely electric cars, the rest are hybrid vehicles.
The latter were able to increase their share again this year. In contrast, the trend for purely electric vehicles is pointing steeply downwards.
The market share of newly registered vehicles with so-called "alternative drive systems", consisting of electric cars and hybrid vehicles, was 41.3% in Switzerland from January to the end of September. However, fully electric vehicles have only achieved a share of 18.7% in the year to date - a drop of 9.5% compared to the same period last year.
The trend is similar in Germany: according to the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA), the proportion of purely electric cars there was only 12.7%. From January to the end of August, just around 242,000 e-cars were registered, a whopping 32 percent fewer than a year ago.
Euphoria faded
According to the Swiss Automobile Importers Association, the slump in e-cars is mainly due to politics. The fact that the figures are lagging behind the roadmap is not due to a lack of vehicles on offer, but rather that electromobility is still too complicated today.
"Where can I charge, what does the energy cost, which app is the right one?" are just three of the "100 other questions" that concern potential buyers of e-cars, as Auto Schweiz Director Thomas Rücker said in his speech at the association's annual media conference at the beginning of July.
Clear commitment
Meanwhile, belief in the mobility turnaround with electric cars has anything but dwindled: "There is simply no alternative that comes close to the electric drive," said Helmut Ruhl, CEO of car importer Amag. Although there is currently "a lot of uncertainty in the system", Amag is sticking to its strategy of focusing everything on electric drives.
When asked, Ruhl also emphasizes that in addition to a "safe and affordable power supply and sufficient charging options", "affordable" vehicles are also needed. At the same time, however, he also admits that "the registration figures should increase due to the many new models".
Cheaper cars
However, the Amag boss does not want to accept the price argument alone: "Smaller and cheaper cars are coming onto the market at a rapid pace". VW, for example, is planning an e-car for "well under 30,000 francs" from 2026. The price differences between the electric and petrol versions of cheaper cars in particular are sometimes striking. The price difference is generally smaller for higher-priced vehicles.
He is also pinning his hopes on the still bumpy second-hand market for e-cars. However, it will be some time before such a market functions well. Reliable solutions are needed here, for example, that make the battery quality of a used e-car comprehensible for interested customers.
Ruhl has not yet given up on the climate targets. But there is still a lot of work to be done. In general, however, the following remains true: "The fastest and most cost-effective way to achieve the climate targets is to electrify mobility."
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