The EV Narrative Continues -- August 5, 2024

Locator: 48340EVS.

EVs: consistent and recurrent theme on the blog:

• by now, "we" should be much farther along the S-shaped curve;
• Volkswagen (VW) looking to close an EV manufacturing plant in Belgium; first auto manufacturing plant to close in Europe; lack of interest in EVs in Europe
• American car companies can't afford to keep making EVs
• Tesla talking a big story, but failing to meet milestones

Search "EV narrative" on the blog for much more. Also this tag: EVS_NFM_UD.

Now this today, link here:

The data points:

The biggest European car market, Germany, saw the sales of electric vehicles plummet by 36.8% in July from a year earlier, as EV sales are softening worldwide and as Berlin ended subsidies at the end of 2023.

New car registrations of battery vehicle vehicles (BEVs) in Germany slumped to 30,762 vehicles in July from the same month of 2023.

July marked the largest annual drop in EV sales since the government ended subsidies for EV acquisitions in December 2023.

While BEV sales plunged, the overall car market held relatively flat. New car registrations of gasoline-powered passenger vehicles rose by 0.1% year-over-year in July, and diesel car sales increased by 1.4%.

Tesla’s new registrations slumped by 36.7% in July compared to the same month of 2023, and was among the worst-performing foreign brands in Germany last month.

Renault, Hyundai, and Fiat, among others, also saw their sales on the German market fall in July compared to a year earlier.

EV demand has visibly softened over the past year, leaving legacy automakers in the U.S., Germany, and France struggling with an overcapacity of their EV models as they realize that the transition to fully electrified transportation will be taking longer than they thought.

Earlier this year, BEV sales in the United States fell for the first time since the onset of Covid in 2020.