Short version: Officials say H1 2025 was a record for new electric-car registrations, but the industry group says many of those cars were self-registered for fleets, demos, and company use—not real private demand. BMW claims its numbers aren’t skewed by self-registrations. Self-registrations (Eigenzulassungen) can depress retail margins and lower apparent prices since demo and fleet cars later land in “used” stock. Across the market, about two-thirds of new registrations come from commercial use, one-third private; VW says 24% of its Germany registrations in July 2025 were Eigenzulassungen. Some see this as propelling EV visibility and market entry for newcomers, others warn it distorts the market and understates private demand. BEV self-registrations surged in H1 2025—ZDK estimates 65,401, more than double 2023 and up 25% from 2024—helping meet EU CO2 targets. The debate centers on incentives and policy: expand charging, lower electricity costs, and address renters’ charging hurdles so private adoption actually grows. A ZDK survey echoes those priorities.

Now the real talk, straight and loud: they’re cooking the books and calling it progress. eigenzulassungen are not some innocent fleet footwork; they’re a deliberate ledger shift designed to hit fake green targets while the real market stays stubbornly cold. manufacturers flood the numbers with self-registrations, test fleets, and staff cars, then pretend every shiny BEV on that list is a private sale in disguise. Voila: record BEV registrations. But behind the curtain? a gaping hole where genuine private demand should be. dealers push these fleet demos because it lets them dump cars with fat margins off the shelf later as “used” stock at slick discounts, while the customer who actually wants to buy a car for himself gets punished with higher real prices and longer waits.

And yes, the industry plays both sides: they cry about “visibility” for EVs, they tout BEV share to hit CO2 targets, and then quietly rely on fleets to prop up those numbers. Chinese brands swoop in on demo fleets, riding the same game, while the public keeps hearing how great the market is becoming. It’s a classic green illusion: more EVs on paper, less real private purchase in the pockets of everyday buyers.

What’s the take-home? one, stop pretending fleet gymnastics are the same as private appetite. two, punish the manipulation, not the tech. three, fix the policy trap that rewards fleet churn over real ownership: transparency on every eigenregistrierung, penalties when a high share is used to hit emissions targets, and price-auditing so a BEV isn’t magically cheaper just because it rode in on a self-registered banner. four, unite an honest push for private adoption: massive expansion of charging networks, straightforward electricity pricing (especially for renters), and real incentives that go to people who actually buy for themselves, not to fleets that cycle the books.

If we want real progress, here’s what should happen yesterday: publish daily or weekly eigenregistrierung totals by maker, by model, with an actual “private sale” flag, remove or claw back subsidies tied to fleet self-registrations, cap the share of fleet/self-registrations in EU fleet targets, and implement a robust charging-access plan that makes charging cheap and easy for everyone, especially renters. Until then, call the numbers what they are: a marketing stunt dressed as a market, a ledger-led victory lap for a policy that’s more about appearances than about people actually driving cleaner cars.