Three quarters of Germans say car is indispensable, half use it daily – survey

Three quarters of Germans say car is indispensable, half use it daily – survey

Clean Energy Wire — 2026-05-08

Automotive Industry

More than three-quarters of Germans say they can't do without a car, and more than half use one every day, according to the Mobility Monitor 2026 survey by the National Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech). Seventy-seven percent of respondents described the car as an "indispensable" mode of transport for them.

Of all respondents, 75 percent said they use a car several times a week, and 53 percent said they use it every day, with bicycles (35% several times a week) and public transport (25%) lagging far behind. Just under half (49%) said they consider the bicycle indispensable.

The survey also indicated that concrete interest in buying electric cars is increasing. Twenty-six percent said they are considering an electric vehicle (EV) for their next purchase, an increase of three percentage points compared with the previous year. Interest appeared to be largely a matter of disposable income. While 46 percent of respondents with a high socio-economic status said they considered an EV, only 11 percent among citizens with a low socio-economic status did.

New EV registrations are climbing in Germany. Data by the country’s motor vehicle authority KBA showed that more than one in four newly registered cars in Germany in April was a purely battery-electric vehicle. According to consultancy EY, this was the third-highest market share ever recorded for battery EVs, news agency dpa reported.  

The increase in registrations follows reports from dealerships and online portals that the sharp rise in oil prices resulting from the war in Iran clearly stoked consumer interest in EVs. The acatech survey was conducted in February 2026, before the crucial fossil fuel shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz was blocked and prices soared as a result.

The uptake of electric cars in Germany already gathered pace last year, but sales continue to lag well behind earlier government plans to bring their number to 15 million by 2030. At the start of the year, the government launched a new subsidy programme to support lower income households in buying or leasing electric cars. The sudden end of a previous subsidy programme in late 2023 had let sales collapse.

However, EY consultant Constantin Gall warned that “once the subsidy scheme comes to an end, sales of electric vehicles will slump again,” arguing that the overall market conditions for the new car market remain very unfavourable. A weak economy meant that there was little willingness to invest among households and businesses, he said.