Austria

Major Developments in 2022

Fleet Distribution

In 2022, 215,050 new passenger cars were registered, a decline of 10.3% compared to 2021 (2021: 239,803). New passenger car registrations are 34.7% below the level of the pre-crisis year, 2019, and reached their lowest level in 43 years. The decline is linked to a continuation of the significant decrease in petrol and diesel-fueled passenger car registrations. The number of petrol-powered passenger cars fell to 78,567 (2021: 91,478), corresponding to a share of 36.5% (2022: 38.1%), and the number of diesel-powered passenger cars fell to 48,155 (2021: 58,263): a share of 22.4% (2021: 35.9%). Despite the overall trend, at 88,368 (2021: 90,062) cars, the share of all alternatively-powered passenger cars increased to 41.1% (2021: 37.6%), thus confirming the continued trend towards alternative drivetrains. In 2023, the total fleet of motor vehicles registered in Austria passed 7 million for the third time in history. With 7.27 million registered motor vehicles, there was an increase of 0.75% or 54,444 vehicles compared to 2021. Passenger vehicles represent 5.15 million vehicles the largest share of vehicles (70.9%). Fleet numbers indicate a continuous trend toward advanced alternative propulsion systems, especially towards BEVs and HEVs. The number of publicly accessible charging points is rising continuously. As of 2022, 13,315 normal power recharging points (with up to 22kW) and 2,626 high power recharging point (above 22kW according to the European Directive 2014/94/EU nomenclature) were operational.

New policies, legislation, incentives, funding, research, and taxation

Austria offers a broad set of supporting measures to support e-mobility uptake such as purchase subsidies, registration tax benefits ownership tax benefits, company tax benefits, VAT benefits, infrastructure incentives and free parking. Austria co-operates with the European Alternative Fuels Observatoryi (EAFO), where an overview of the Austrian support measures are available.

Research and Innovation - Austrian National Battery Initiative and M-ERA.NET Activities

The development and production of battery cells, modules and packs and electric vehicles are of utmost importance for Austria due to its strong automotive supply industry. Hence, the Federal Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology (BMK)ii set up the Austrian National Battery Initiativeiii in close cooperation with industry and research. The initiative covers the whole value chain from raw materials to the production of battery cells and their integration in the vehicle. This initiative also takes into account battery recycling, sustainability in energy, battery production and efficient industry 4.0 processes. Until the end of 2020 three battery calls have been published.

Economy - Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI)

Austria joined forces with Belgium, Croatia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Spain and Sweden in setting up the “European Battery Innovation (EuBatIn)” IPCEI. The project covers the entire battery value chain from extraction of raw materials, design and manufacturing of battery cells and packs, and recycling and disposal with a strong focus on sustainability. Six Austrian partners will contribute their expertise to establish a sustainable battery cell production in Europe.

Outlook

Austria’s ambitious goal to become carbon neutral by 2040 calls for concerted activities across all sectors. Especially in the mobility sector, novel approaches are required. Therefore, Austria has launched the Mobility Master Plan, which lays out the path to climate neutrality in 2040 through identifying ways to avoid traffic, by shifting traffic to public transport and active mobility, while also increasing energy efficiency through replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy sources. New solutions from research, technology, and innovation need to be brought swiftly to market to achieve the mobility-related climate targets. International co-operation and learning from each other’s experiences is key. The Technology Collaboration Programme is an international expert forum, where Austrian representatives actively participate and benefit. Austria is keen on continuing its previous activities such as the LCA Task in the framework of the HEV TCP.