How Is Europe and Electric Cars?

With sky rocketing gas prices and the whole "Go Green" movement, it seems to be in most peoples best interest now a days to invest in electric vehicles. A simple plug-in and charge can get you a good amount of distance for these electric cars, not to mention it's healthier for the environment over fossil fueled vehicles. Being eco friendly by reducing the amount of pollution and gasses into our atmosphere is typically the main reason why people in the US purchase these cars, but what about Europe?

Germany and the UK specifically have really started pushing their automakers to focus more on developing electric vehicles to help their economy as well as their environment. Both countries produce by far some of the most well engineered cars. With that in mind, you would think that electric vehicles would be booming at time like this right? Well let's take a look and see how the electric vehicle situation is working out on the other side of the world.

Let's start with the Germans. We already know that people who own electric vehicles in Germany get exclusive access to electric charging station parking spots as well as bus only lanes and free parking. In 2009 The German Chancellor proposed a goal of 1 million electric vehicles to be on the road by 2020. Today there is only about 17,000. That means for about every 2,500 gasoline powered cars there is only 1 electric car. That's a pretty big difference and Germany better step their game up in the next few years if they want to fulfill the chancellor's proposal.

So, what's the problem? Well, a representative from the VDA auto industry association says that the problem is a mixture between the high prices of the vehicles, the recharging time and simply because some people feel discomfited about electric cars. Some other problems include that a lot of Germans prefer German made cars in which it leaves the people with very few options.

The people of Germany would like to see further incentives and higher tax breaks for electric vehicle owners. Also a raise in production of charging stations would be wise as well, as Germany only has 4,400 public charging stations.

The UK has shown more of a growth in electric car sales recently than other European countries. The government actually provides grants to those who purchase an electric vehicle. With the price of gasoline at an extremely high price, you would think many people would actually prefer an electric vehicle right? In fact, a poll was taken by the Institute of Advanced Motorists and found that nearly 31% of drivers would consider an electric vehicle for their next purchase. The people that seemed more hesitant about purchasing an electric vehicle as their next vehicle stated that the prices of the vehicles are too high and that there are not enough charging stations abundant.

So as we can see, there are common reasons for not owning an electric vehicle among both countries, but we do see a slow rise and potential for growth and popularity among the German and UK automakers electric vehicles and consumers a like.