If it runs on electricity, it is usually an SUV: in the first two thirds of the current year, more than half of the newly registered ones belonged in one battery electric cars (BEVs) in Germany to this category. Specifically, it was almost 51 percent, as shown by current data from the Federal Motor Transport Authority. If you also include off-road vehicles, which the KBA records separately but are often also perceived by consumers as SUVs, the figure is almost 55 percent. Minis, small and compact cars together, on the other hand, only make up just under 26 percent.
The dominance of SUVs (sport utility vehicles) and off-road vehicles is therefore even greater among pure electric vehicles than in the overall market. Together they account for almost 41 percent of new registrations. And the dominance of SUVs in the electric car sector has recently increased even further. In 2023 as a whole, SUVs only made up 48 percent of BEVs, and in 2022 it was 42 percent. The trend is also evident including off-road vehicles, with 53 percent last year and 43 percent the year before last.
Industry expert Ferdinand Dudenhöffer (73) sees the fundamental popularity of the vehicle type as the reason for the high numbers in the BEV sector. Anyone who brings out a new car today would be well advised to offer it as an SUV, he says. In addition, the design is well suited for BEVs, as there is usually space for the batteries under the higher floor.