Despite the fact that the sale of new petrol and diesel cars will be banned in the European Union as of 2035, sales of plug-in “zero emission” electric vehicles have stalled in the region in recent months.

The market share for electric cars has shrunk from 14.16 percent last year to 12 percent or less since the start of this year, a drop attributed mainly to Germany’s decision to abruptly halt subsidies for electric car purchases on Europe’s biggest market at the end of 2023.

Sigrid de Vries, director general of the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA), expressed “concern.”

Fewer than 30 percent of Europeans say they plan to buy an electric vehicle (EV), according to the ACEA, and more than half refuse to pay more than 35,000 euros ($37,750) for a car, a price level offering few EVs.

The “2035 deadline... is really just around the corner, especially when you talk production cycles,” de Vries told an EV conference last week in Lillestrom, Norway. “We need to go from 15 percent (zero-emission cars) to 100 percent in about just around 10 years,” she said.

WITH AFP