Germany’s overpowered private cars could revolutionize energy with shared fleets

Your SUV’s engine is 40 times bigger than a power plant’s—and used for just an hour a day. What if sharing electric cars could turn waste into grid stability?

, and Administrator

2025 November 10 . 3:01 AM

1 min read

In the image we can see there are many vehicles. This is a road, grass, fence, electric pole,... — In the image we can see there are many vehicles. This is a road, grass, fence, electric pole, electric wires, trees, benches, buildings, windows of the buildings and a pale blue sky.

Germany’s overpowered private cars could revolutionize energy with shared fleets

Germany's private car fleet, numbering 4,300 gigawatt-hours (GW), is 40 times larger than its power plant fleet. Despite their overpowered engines, these cars are used for just an hour daily, with a capacity factor below one percent. A shift to shared electric 'carsmax' could significantly reduce motor size, improve efficiency, and even stabilise the grid.

Currently, German power plants run at around half of their rated capacity annually. Families often buy cars with large engines for heavy use, but they're mostly used for daily tasks. This leads to underutilisation and inefficiency.

A shared electric 'cars' fleet could address these issues. With collective battery capacities potentially approaching gigawatt levels, they could run on excess wind and solar power, stabilising the grid. Moreover, they could reduce street parking and increase resource efficiency.

As of late 2025, Germany is seeing tens of thousands of new electric vehicle registrations monthly. However, the cumulative usable battery storage across fleets is still emerging, unlike the stable capacity of conventional power plants, typically in the tens of gigawatts.

Germany's private car fleet, with its vast capacity, is ripe for change. A shift to shared electric 'carsmax' could significantly improve efficiency, reduce street parking, and even stabilise the grid. As Germans become more aware of the underutilisation of privately owned 'cars', the case for shared electric fleets grows stronger.