Stuttgart: Electric cars overtake gasoline and diesel for the first time!

Stuttgart: Electric cars overtake gasoline and diesel for the first time!

Martin Körner, the director of the Stuttgart fundamental department for climate protection, mobility and living, underlines the role of improved public charging infrastructures and a growing number of attractive e-car models for this increase. The city can be proud of 3572 public charging points (as of 01/01/2025), which makes it one of the cities with the densest charging network in Germany. And it will be expanded: an additional 500 charging stations are planned for the coming years.

The key data of the new registrations

The distribution of new registrations in Stuttgart shows how quickly electromobility can establish itself:

Overall, alternative drives even make up 64.7 percent of new registrations in Stuttgart. An important step towards the climate goals, because the city strives to become climate -neutral by 2035. If you consider that about 14 percent of CO₂ emissions come from traffic in Stuttgart, this change is absolutely necessary.

the nationwide trend

Development in Stuttgart is part of a larger trend in Germany. According to Statista, the number of electric cars rose continuously. At the end of 2022 there were over 1 million fully electric cars in the country for the first time, and around 1.4 million electric cars can be expected by the beginning of 2024. Up to 2 million new registrations annually would be necessary to reach the EU target of 15 million electric cars by 2030. The switch from combustion to electric vehicles is supported by legal requirements- from 2035 no new petrol and diesel cars may be approved in the EU, with exceptions for e-fuel.

The rise of the e-cars is also favored by steadily falling operating costs. Electric cars are not only more environmentally friendly, they also have lower maintenance costs and tax advantages. Current surveys show that almost 75 percent of consumers could be affected by the rising electricity costs, which stirs up the fear of the operating costs of e-cars. But in the long term, emissions decrease considerably when driving, especially when the electricity comes from renewable energies - in 2023 over 54 percent of the current produced in Germany came from such sources.

The trend towards electric vehicles is therefore unmistakable, and the signs show that interest will only continue to grow. Whether by tax incentives or the expansion of the charging infrastructure, the prerequisites for sustainable change in mobility are available. Both the consumers who rely on electric cars and the cities that invest in the required infrastructure have a good hand here.