Buy an electric car: High fuel prices are driving demand for electric cars

Electric cars are becoming increasingly popular in Germany. At the same time, however, the number of bargains decreases.

According to the regular market study by the private Center Automotive Research (CAR) in Bochum, manufacturers and retailers slightly increased discounts, especially for combustion engines and plug-in hybrids, in October. These include important volume models such as the VW Golf, Opel Astra and Fiat 500. For electric cars, however, smaller discounts were granted on the list price. “The high fuel price creates room for slightly higher prices for electric cars,” explains study leader Ferdinand Dudenhöffer.

On average, the price at which a new car changes hands is 19.6 percent below the list for combustion engines, while there is only a 16.3 percent discount for electric cars. However, there are additional state funding bonuses of up to 6,000 euros if the individual economic requirements are met.

For this information, the CAR Institute regularly monitors the asking prices for the 25 best-selling cars in each category. The average price difference recorded between electric cars and combustion engines grew to more than 2,900 euros in October. With significantly lower fuel prices, electric cars were only 1,328 euros more expensive than combustion engines in December 2025.

There was an average price reduction of 20.3 percent for the 20 best-selling cars with plug-in hybrid drive in October. The Chinese manufacturer BYD is particularly attractive here with a discount of up to almost 38 percent on the list price for the Seal 6 model. However, the EU and China have now agreed to limit the import of Chinese hybrid vehicles.