Formula E (1/3): The brands on the grid and their Swiss figures
Five manufacturers on the grid sell cars in Switzerland: 4,3 % of plug-in vehicles, all below last year. BMW, Mercedes and Audi have left the series.
Analyses
Longer analyses that follow a question through to the end. Every figure with a source, every calculation open, every gap named — including where the answer is inconvenient.
Eight years, 70 per cent — and four brands that name no figure
Eight years, 160’000 km and 70 % residual capacity are named by ten of fourteen brands. Four name no threshold, one excludes it. Every figure sourced.
What is left of a model year: how long electric cars stay on the register
Of the electric cars registered in 2019, 90,3 % are still on the register, against 89,8 % for combustion cars. Where older years lag and why. Every figure sourced.
Expensive electricity, more electric cars — and Switzerland pays more than Europe
Countries with expensive electricity have more electric cars, not fewer. Switzerland pays 29,00 centimes/kWh net and ranks 4 of 38. Every figure sourced.
An EV without your own wallbox: what public charging costs a year
Charging only in public costs CHF 1’631 a year at 12’000 km instead of CHF 555 at home. Against the petrol car CHF 115 are left. Every figure sourced.
Bidirectional charging: what it pays in Switzerland
Since 2026 the grid operator refunds the grid usage fee for electricity fed back: 13,04 centimes/kWh. For 100 francs it takes 767 kWh.
Electricity (2/5): What you really pay
The unit price is not your price. With the standing charge a 4’500 kWh household pays 29,83 instead of 27,89 centimes/kWh. Calculator for 2’101 municipalities.
Electricity (1/5): How your electricity price is made up
The same kilowatt-hour costs 9,64 to 43,61 centimes — 4,52 times as much. What the tariff consists of, why it depends on your address, what changes in 2027.
Why the same used car costs almost twice the road tax
The same electric car: CHF 642 over six years in Zurich, CHF 2’144 in St. Gallen. Used at three years, 85,5 per cent more — the clock runs from first registration.
The market shrinks, the electric cars grow
29,9 per cent of new cars were purely electric in August 2026, 20,0 a year earlier. The overall market shrank by 0,6 per cent. What that means for a purchase.
A quarter more cars than the registration statistics show
36’153 used passenger cars entered Switzerland to August 2026, 23,8 per cent of the new car market. Who supplies them and what they do to the fleet.
Germany is pulling ahead on electric cars — and is still level with Switzerland
Germany leads on BEV share, on all vehicles with a plug both are level. What the gap measures and what a factor of 13,8 means for the used car market.
What happens to fuel tax when less is filled up
Mineral oil tax hangs on the litre, not the price. What Switzerland loses and what the 5,4 centime per kilometre charge captures — assumptions disclosed.
Where to get the battery check for a used EV — and whether you can do it yourself
The battery is the most expensive part and the biggest unknown when buying used. Where to have it checked independently in Switzerland and what it costs.
BEV, full hybrid, plug-in: the one difference from which all others follow
Between a full hybrid and a plug-in there is technically more than between petrol and diesel. The one difference from which all others follow.
Why this site carries a list of what it does not know
Most market overviews look complete. Why wattradar keeps a list of what it does not know instead, and what that means for the figures standing next to it.
The best moment for an electric car is rarely «new, right now»
The largest item in a car purchase is on no price tag. Used electric cars lost 8,3 per cent of their value on average in 2025, used petrol cars 0,2.
Why the electric share looks almost twice as high in many statistics as it is
A third, or almost sixty per cent? Both figures are correct. The difference lies in the definition, and in whether a car has to be plugged in at all.
