These are the best electric cars in the test

Cologne Dirk Braun’s journey towards electromobility began with a disappointment. If the established leasing providers presented available models, the fleet manager from Bridging IT shook his head: The ranges were too short, and there were no charging options for long-distance journeys. “For better or worse, we ended up at Tesla,” says Braun. “There was simply nothing else.” Braun ordered ten Teslas in 2014 for employees of the Mannheim-based consulting company – a risk, given that there was hardly any experience with the brand at the time.

But the supposed emergency solution has proven itself: “We have had consistently positive experiences.” Some colleagues, reports Braun, are now driving their third Tesla – this is made possible by the regular renewal of the vehicle fleet as part of the leasing contracts. Tesla fans did not deter Tesla fans, either. Currently, 24 of the 248 cars in the advisory fleet are from Californians.

Like Bridging IT, many other companies that were looking for all-battery electric cars ended up with Tesla first. The Californian manufacturer has been producing its Model S since mid-2012 – and was therefore unrivaled in the upper-class segment for a long time.

The early start is still having an impact today, as an industry study by the Düsseldorf-based market research company Innofact produced exclusively for Handelsblatt shows. In an online survey, 275 fleet managers rated 39 different e-cars – with all-electric drives and plug-in hybrids.

All three Tesla models available so far land in the top ten in the overall standings. The top spot belongs to the Model 3, which is cheaper than the Model S and has been available in Europe since the beginning of last year.

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But Tesla’s lead is dwindling – because there are more and more alternatives to the established brands. This is already evident in the registration figures for the fleet market, as evaluations by the Frankfurt-based analysis company Dataforce show.

According to this, Tesla had a market share of 16.5 percent in the e-car segment two years ago. This year it is only 7.6 percent – by far the market leader is now Volkswagen. “The established manufacturers are playing into the fact that many fleet managers are skeptical of new brands,” says Dataforce analyst Benjamin Kibies.

Electrical pioneers such as Bridging IT are also rediscovering the long-established manufacturers: Tesla is still dominating when it comes to consulting. But half of the now 50 e-cars are already from other brands. “The variety is growing – and that’s a good thing,” says fleet manager Braun. The portfolio now also includes vehicles from the Volkswagen Group as well as from Hyundai, Renault and BMW.

With Mercedes, a German manufacturer, which according to Dataforce is the market leader in the plug-in segment in the fleet market, is surprisingly popular with fleet managers – but has so far hardly played a role in purely electric cars with a market share of only 2.5 percent.

In the ranking, however, the first three purely battery-electric models of the EQ series are among the top ten. Mercedes is now providing the two SUVs and the minibus with the luxury class sedan EQS and its smaller brother EQE, which is traded as a rival to Tesla’s Model S.

Apps against skepticism

“Our portfolio is now so broad that we can meet all vehicle fleet requirements,” says Frank Kemmerer, who heads the fleet customer business at Daimler. “This enables us to take the lead in the premium segment with battery-electric vehicles.” The Stuttgart-based company also wants to win company car drivers who are skeptical of e-mobility in their race to catch up: interested parties can use the app to check their driving profile. The software then reveals which EQ cars would be suitable. “The market is only just getting started,” says Kemmerer.

The momentum for e-mobility is greater than ever, as the Dataforce analysis of the registration numbers shows. According to this, more pure e-cars and plug-in hybrids than diesel vehicles were registered for the first time in the so-called relevant fleet market in August. Commercial registrations without car rental companies as well as dealers and manufacturers are considered. According to the Innofact study, the picture should solidify. When asked about the preferred type of drive when the fleet was enlarged, the participants mentioned e-cars much more often than combustion engines.

Dirk Braun also wants to add to Bridging IT. The fleet manager admits that there is still a high proportion of combustion engines. But that is now changing. “In the beginning, it was the lunatic in a positive sense and technology fans who wanted an electric car at all,” he reports. “Now it is becoming an alternative for everyone – also thanks to the tax advantages.”

In the past, the short range was often a major drag – even if many vehicles are only used for comparatively short distances in everyday life. With ranges of over 500 kilometers, Tesla has long stood out here and is well ahead in this category in the Innofact ranking.

But other manufacturers are also relying on ever larger batteries in the middle and upper class. BMW, for example, is planning a range of more than 600 kilometers for its new iX SUV. Mercedes even promises up to 770 kilometers for the flagship EQS. “The question of the range no longer arises,” says Daimler manager Kemmerer.

In addition, the construction of publicly accessible charging stations is progressing. The number of charging points and charging locations has more than quadrupled within three years, according to a recently published report by Tüv Rheinland.

Especially on longer journeys, there are now enough opportunities to recharge your batteries on the motorway – regardless of the vehicle brand. For a long time, Tesla had a unique selling point here with its “superchargers”. A second reservation in the loading context is less of a concern for the driver than for the fleet manager. The majority, so the Innofact survey showed, fears that the billing for charging processes is associated with more effort than for filling up with fossil fuels.

But there has also been a lot of movement in the market on this point. Both providers of classic fuel cards and start-ups offer corresponding billing systems – sales sometimes run directly through leasing companies and vehicle manufacturers. Daimler, for example, cooperates with New Motion. The Shell subsidiary offers charging solutions for companies, for at home and also for on the go. With plug-in hybrids, both the charging current and the fuel are billed via a card. “Everything is intelligently connected to one another,” says Kemmerer.

Discussion about discounts

In the race with Tesla, the traditional manufacturers are helped by the fact that most of them limit themselves to certain brands when it comes to company cars – if only to reduce complexity. So far, German manufacturers have dominated, as the Innofact survey shows.

Company car drivers, for example, can choose a BMW car 52 percent of the time, but a Tesla is only an option in every fourth company. SAP, for example, has decided against allowing Teslas as a company car, despite great demand. Fleet boss Steffen Krautwasser criticized the Handelsblatt in the spring that repairs were taking too long.

Another reason for the reluctance of some companies is their pricing policy. “Many fleet bosses are uncomfortable that Tesla – at least officially – does not grant any major customer discounts,” says Dataforce analyst Kibies.

Nevertheless, Tesla will probably secure a permanent place in the company car sector. Because the brand image is still good. The Model Y, which has only been delivered in Europe since last month, could bring a new boost. The electric SUV meets the demand for a lot of storage space, says Kibies – and has a good chance of becoming a bestseller in the fleet market.

More: ACC CEO on battery cell production in Europe: “If we don’t manage that, the European auto industry is dead”