What is the market potential of electric vehicles as commercial passenger cars? A case study from Germany

Commercial passenger cars are often discussed as an early market segment for plug-in electric vehicles (EVs). Compared to private vehicles, the commercial vehicle segment is characterized by higher vehicle kilometers travelled and a higher share of vehicle sales in Germany. Studies which consider commercial passenger EVs less important than private ones often use driving data with an observation period of only one day. Here, we calculate the market potential of EVs for the German commercial passenger car sector by determining the technical and economic potential in 2020 for multiday driving profiles to be operated as EV.We find that commercial vehicles are better suited for EVs than private ones because of the regularity of their driving. About 87% of analysed vehicles could technically be operated as battery electric vehicles (BEVs) while plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) could obtain an electric driving share of 60% on average. In moderate energy price scenarios EVs can reach a market share of 4% in the German commercial passenger car market by 2020 while especially the large commercial branches are important. However, our analysis shows a high sensitivity of results to energy and battery prices as well as electric consumptions.