The Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) has released statistics showing that the average carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions from newly registered motor vehicles in Germany during January to April of this year are significantly higher than the annual average of last year. The average CO₂ value for passenger cars from January to April 2023 is 123.2 grams per kilometer while the annual average for 2022 was only 109.6 g/km. The reason for this difference is mainly due to the decreasing proportion of purely electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles registered since the beginning of the year.
The KBA statistics also show that the percentage of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles has decreased from around 30% of new registrations in 2022 to only around 20% from January to April of this year. The decline in plug-in hybrids may be due to the cessation of direct state funding. Although demand for electric cars initially collapsed at the beginning of the year, there has been a slight recovery in recent months. However, the availability of these vehicles remains poor, prices are high, and cheap models are an exception.
Electric cars and plug-in hybrids have lower or no CO₂ emissions, which lowers the overall average. In 2022, the values for pure combustion engines were 150.5 grams per kilometer for petrol engines and 168 grams for diesel engines.
The KBA statistics also reveal the brands with the highest average CO₂ emissions per kilometer for new registrations from January to April. Lamborghini and Rolls-Royce have the highest values, with over 300 grams/km, but have very low numbers of new registrations. Among the larger brands with at least 10,000 newly registered cars since the beginning of the year, Porsche has the highest value at 208.2 grams. The three major German manufacturers, Mercedes, Audi, and BMW, are close together and above average, with Mercedes having an average value of 136.4 grams/km, Audi at 135.5 grams/km, and BMW with 133.7 grams/km. VW and Opel come in lower at 129.8 grams/km and 114.5 grams/km, respectively.
In conclusion, the statistics from Germany’s Federal Motor Transport Authority suggests that CO₂ emissions from newly registered motor vehicles in Germany have increased this year, attributed to the declining proportion of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles registered since the beginning of the year.
