Sales of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) are being held back worldwide by production bottlenecks, supply chain problems, and lockdowns in China, according to consultancy firm PwC. It said new registrations of e-cars in 14 selected markets rose 108 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2022, but only 62 percent in the second quarter. "In Europe, just under 1.5 million BEVs will be produced this year - at maximum capacity and without bottlenecks, it could be more than twice as many," PwC industry expert Felix Kuhnert said on Wednesday.
"Electromobility is bracing itself against a stumbling overall market," Kuhnert said. German automakers have been particularly hard hit by supply bottlenecks as an economic consequence of the war in Ukraine, he said. Model choice was limited and delivery times were long. In the global market, German manufacturers’ BEV market share fell from 14 to 11 percent.
In Germany, BEV cars accounted for 13.5 percent of new registrations in the first half of the year, in the United States just under 5 percent, and in China 17 percent. While sales of plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) fell in Europe, they rose much faster than BEVs in China. "Reasons for this are new vehicle models as well as gaps in the charging infrastructure," PwC explained.
However, the industry experts now see "initial signs of an easing of supply bottlenecks" and expect more production capacity for electric cars with stronger growth in the second half of the year. In Germany, they expect demand to rise steadily, and this is unlikely to be slowed down significantly, even by cuts in government subsidies.
In order to better brace themselves against external shocks, European car companies were investing billions in European supply chains, especially for batteries. "We expect battery demand in Europe to be around 1 TWh by 2030, with corresponding production capacity," said PwC strategy consultant Jörn Neuhausen. Today, two-thirds of the primary materials for batteries come from China, he said.
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