Between 2020 and 2025, electric vehicles fell in price by about 18 percent. In addition, there are government procurement bonuses, thanks to which more than 50 million euros have already been paid – especially for Tesla models.
Electric cars have become significantly cheaper over the past five years. Adjusted for inflation, list prices in Germany fell by 18 percent between 2020 and 2025, according to a study by the Fraunhofer Institute for System and Innovation Research (ISI) and the International Council on Clean Transport (ICCT).
Prices for internal combustion engines rose two percent over the same period, adjusted for inflation. This means that overall costs per kilometer are clearly skewed in favor of electric vehicles.
Electric vehicle market ‘significantly’ further development”
“Our results show that the electric vehicle market has developed significantly in recent years. Vehicles today offer, on average, longer range and more engine power, while real-world prices for comparable models have fallen,” said Peter Mock of ICCT.
For their study, the researchers evaluated more than 100,000 individual pieces of information from the ADAC database. To ensure a fair comparison, average prices for all combustion engines and all electric vehicles were not simply calculated as the range of electric vehicles has expanded in recent years, particularly for more expensive vehicles.
“As a result, the average price has increased, but these are completely different cars,” said Patrick Ploetz, a professor at ISI. “So you would compare cherries to apples. To prevent this from happening, we tried to analyze the same or comparable vehicles over time.” This approach has led to nominally relatively stable list prices for electric vehicles and rising prices for internal combustion engines.
Price equality expected by 2030
ISI expert Plötz sees further potential for price increases in favor of electric vehicles: “The reduction in battery prices has not yet been fully realized. In addition, increased volumes and pressure on producers due to CO2 emissions restrictions should also help,” he said.
Taking the current situation into account, electric cars in Europe are likely to cost the same as comparable internal combustion engines by around 2030. “In terms of overall costs per kilometer, they will then be clearly cheaper.” Experience in other markets has shown that at the same prices, electric vehicles will have a market share of about 50 percent.
The main reason the study compares list prices rather than actual transaction prices is that the latter are not within the required range. However, this should not have caused any serious distortions, the study authors emphasize.
More than 50 million euros in bonuses for e-cars
In addition to lower list prices, consumers are benefiting from new government incentives when purchasing electric vehicles. Since the launch of the application portal from May 19 to June 30, 53.9 million euros have been approved from a funding program worth up to three billion euros, as the Federal Ministry of the Environment responded to a question from the Green parliamentary group.
According to the Ministry of Electric Vehicles, Tesla had the most approved “financing cases” by brand with 2,086 vehicles, followed by Skoda with 1,197 vehicles and Renault with 784 vehicles. If you look at the manufacturers, Volkswagen took first place with 2,720 cars from the brands Audi, Cupra/Seat, Porsche, Skoda and VW. Stellantis follows with 2,278 Citroen, DS, Fiat, Jeep, Leapmotor, Opel and Peugeot vehicles.
Looking at the figures, the ministry emphasized that due to the still short period of funding and high market dynamics with the ongoing implementation of new models, reliable conclusions could not be drawn about the distribution of funding throughout the entire duration of the program.