Until 2020, the German government will probably not get the planned one million electric cars on the road. The German government announced this ambitious plan in 2009. At present, it seems that there will be only 100 thousand electric vehicles in Germany by the end of the decade. German activist Viviane Raddatz accused the German car manufacturers that rely too much on state subsidies and do not focus on intelligent technical solutions. More optimistic view was expressed by the National Electromobility Platform, a group of businessmen, politicians, trade associations and scientists who believe that under current conditions there can be 600,000 electric cars by 2020. The representatives of the platform, however, warned that a greater deployment of electric vehicles is hindered by insufficient support, which would increase people's interest.
The German government granted some tax reliefs for electric cars. By 2014, German car manufacturers want to offer up to 15 different types of electric vehicles to ordinary customers. For example, Daimler will launch a sale of its Smart Fortwo E-Drive later this year, but it will be twice more expensive than a comparable car with a petrol engine. Foreign car manufacturers such as Mitsubishi already sell their cars in Germany. There were, however, only 2,044 licensed foreign electric cars in 2011.
-tk-