Reshab AgarwalCOVID-19 has vastly slowed down the Electric cars market in Germany. The industry has so majorly been affected that COVID’s effect will stay on even after the virus is gone. People’s debt has also been rising during this pandemic and will, in turn, affect the car industry in Europe. For the market to recover, the companies will definitely have to wait for quite some time.
Why is the EV industry struggling?
The pandemic has driven down sales and revenue for companies. And this has led to job cuts and various cost-cutting measures by them. While on the other hand, customers are still not sure if they should opt for an EV or a fuel-based car. And I won’t blame them. The Electric cars market is still very small, and these cars are also very expensive. Simultaneously, the charging stations and infrastructure for these cars aren’t as well established yet.
Image Source: Automotive News Europe
All these things, combined with the pandemic have affected the EV market and also the auto industry in general. But noting that the Electric Vehicles market isn’t as huge as the fuel-based ones, they are struggling even more. There is also a wide catching up to do for the government to support EVs once they normalize. It means that building up proper charging infrastructure and maintaining the power grids so they can support the daily charging load.
This is obvious because you don’t want to put your car to charge overnight only to find out in the morning that the power was out. And now your family trip is canceled. At the same time, unless there are charging stations everywhere like petrol pumps, making a conscious decision to get an EV is difficult for any consumer.
Government doing its part
In order to boost the sales and adoption of EVs, states are providing subsidies to customers. Until 2025 if a customer purchases a new EV, the government will pay them a $11,000. The government is also stepping in to support companies that have adversely suffered because of the pandemic. The government’s efforts to support both customers and companies during this period of difficulty is commendable. This is a very important industry for the Germans, supporting over 20 lakhs of jobs. The EV industry is also important for the long term goals of building a healthy environment, so there’s that.
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