European motorists are increasingly ‘returning to petrol’ as sales of gasoline powered automobiles continue to rise at the expense of EVs.That’s the conclusion of analysts pointing to reports that Volkswagen’s European sales of electric vehicles have fallen nearly 25%, according to its latest quarterly results. Meanwhile, its worldwide sales of internal combustion gasoline powered cars rose about 4% in the same period.Those include cars made by Audi, Skoda and Porsche, which VW owns.The drop off comes as EU countries rollback subsidies for electric cars and reconsider targets to shift away from fossil fuels like gasoline and diesel. And in fact, the EU parliament is moving away from a ban on internal combustion engines to allow the use of so-called synthetic ‘e-fuels’ in traditional cars..The EU has also frozen emissions targets for vehicle fleets, further stunting sales. So much so, other German EV manufacturers like Mercedes have shelved plans to convert their fleets to electric by 2030 and instead prolong diesel engine manufacturing.Sales of Mercedes’ EVs have fallen about 8%. That follows a sharp fall in deliveries at Tesla, the US’ leading electric vehicle maker. Last week, Elon Musk’s business reported an 8% fall in sales during the March quarter while it moved to slash 10% of its work force or nearly 14,000 jobs.Others like Bentley — also owned by VW — and Maserati have pushed back plans to introduce EV models until 2026 and 2028, respectively.."Ernst & Young predicts that adoption will stall without substantial public networks of fast chargers catering for those who can’t charge at home or need top-ups on longer journeys.“.According to a World Economic Forum report by Ernst & Young, cost is still one of the biggest barriers to mass market adoption for electric cars which are at least 25% more expensive than conventional automobiles.The WEF also noted how the lag in building out charging infrastructure continues to affect the market."Ernst & Young predicts that adoption will stall without substantial public networks of fast chargers catering for those who can’t charge at home or need top-ups on longer journeys. This will require the removal of red tape, faster approvals from local authorities and available grid connections from utility networks," the report also said..Meanwhile, the EU is being flooded by cheap Chinese imports, so much so that it has launched an investigation into the subsidies being offered to Chinese carmakers by Beijing. Germany’s Kiel Institute estimates that Chinese manufacture BYD alone has received more than €3.4bn (CAD$5 billion) in subsidies, Bloomberg reported.But it’s not all doom and gloom.Although its EV sales have fallen in Europe, Volkswagen’s numbers climbed 91% in China. And BWW reported on Wednesday that its EV sales rose by 28% in the first quarter, fuelled by a 41% jump in it i4, iX1 and i7 models.“Our diversified product portfolio gives us the necessary flexibility to compensate for fluctuations in demand in certain segments – as is currently the case with all-electric vehicles – in others,” Volkswagen executive board member Hildegard Wortmann said.
European motorists are increasingly ‘returning to petrol’ as sales of gasoline powered automobiles continue to rise at the expense of EVs.That’s the conclusion of analysts pointing to reports that Volkswagen’s European sales of electric vehicles have fallen nearly 25%, according to its latest quarterly results. Meanwhile, its worldwide sales of internal combustion gasoline powered cars rose about 4% in the same period.Those include cars made by Audi, Skoda and Porsche, which VW owns.The drop off comes as EU countries rollback subsidies for electric cars and reconsider targets to shift away from fossil fuels like gasoline and diesel. And in fact, the EU parliament is moving away from a ban on internal combustion engines to allow the use of so-called synthetic ‘e-fuels’ in traditional cars..The EU has also frozen emissions targets for vehicle fleets, further stunting sales. So much so, other German EV manufacturers like Mercedes have shelved plans to convert their fleets to electric by 2030 and instead prolong diesel engine manufacturing.Sales of Mercedes’ EVs have fallen about 8%. That follows a sharp fall in deliveries at Tesla, the US’ leading electric vehicle maker. Last week, Elon Musk’s business reported an 8% fall in sales during the March quarter while it moved to slash 10% of its work force or nearly 14,000 jobs.Others like Bentley — also owned by VW — and Maserati have pushed back plans to introduce EV models until 2026 and 2028, respectively.."Ernst & Young predicts that adoption will stall without substantial public networks of fast chargers catering for those who can’t charge at home or need top-ups on longer journeys.“.According to a World Economic Forum report by Ernst & Young, cost is still one of the biggest barriers to mass market adoption for electric cars which are at least 25% more expensive than conventional automobiles.The WEF also noted how the lag in building out charging infrastructure continues to affect the market."Ernst & Young predicts that adoption will stall without substantial public networks of fast chargers catering for those who can’t charge at home or need top-ups on longer journeys. This will require the removal of red tape, faster approvals from local authorities and available grid connections from utility networks," the report also said..Meanwhile, the EU is being flooded by cheap Chinese imports, so much so that it has launched an investigation into the subsidies being offered to Chinese carmakers by Beijing. Germany’s Kiel Institute estimates that Chinese manufacture BYD alone has received more than €3.4bn (CAD$5 billion) in subsidies, Bloomberg reported.But it’s not all doom and gloom.Although its EV sales have fallen in Europe, Volkswagen’s numbers climbed 91% in China. And BWW reported on Wednesday that its EV sales rose by 28% in the first quarter, fuelled by a 41% jump in it i4, iX1 and i7 models.“Our diversified product portfolio gives us the necessary flexibility to compensate for fluctuations in demand in certain segments – as is currently the case with all-electric vehicles – in others,” Volkswagen executive board member Hildegard Wortmann said.
