E-mobility is one of the Swiss winners from the crisis

Zurich - The number of newly registered electric vehicles in Switzerland rose by 17 percent in the second quarter compared to the previous year. The biggest growth driver was plug-in hybrids with an increase of 186 percent. This is shown by a current study by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

Despite the Corona crisis, a total of 17 percent more electric vehicles hit the streets in Switzerland in the second quarter of the year than in the same quarter of the previous year. The plug-in hybrids recorded massive growth of 186 percent. In contrast, new registrations of all-electric cars fell by 12 percent. These are the main results of the current edition of the " E-Mobility Sales Review Q3 2020 " from PwC Autofacts and the strategy consultancy from PwC , Strategy & .

"During the crisis, the development of e-mobility proves that the path towards a strategically important market segment is not only being pursued, but is even being accelerated," comments Andreas Schlegel, automotive expert and director at Strategy & Switzerland . "With this tailwind, the charging infrastructure in Switzerland in particular should now be further expanded."

The current strong growth in plug-in hybrids could be an indication that Swiss consumers are not yet completely convinced of the practicality and range of pure e-cars, according to a media release . At the same time, it is now important for manufacturers to advance the technical development of batteries and thus create additional arguments for e-mobility.

In the same period, conventional drive technologies with diesel and gasoline recorded a significant drop in sales of 57.9 percent in Europe. In contrast, the European mobility segment remained comparatively unaffected by the lockdown measures: In the first half of the year, the number of newly registered e-vehicles in the ten markets examined rose by 25.6 percent. Plug-in hybrids saw a strong increase of 121 percent in new registrations. Across Europe, all-electric cars experienced an increase of 35 percent.

According to Schlegel, electric vehicles have proven to be an "island of stability" during the crisis. “Whether this trend is sustainable will only be shown when government subsidies expire.” Now retailers have to react and approach customers in a fundamentally different way than in traditional sales with combustion engines. mm