E-car success on the brink? Now it depends
E-cars should ban combustion engines from the streets. But the resounding success is still a long way off. While the Stromer are repeatedly faced with sometimes massive setbacks, there are also signs that give hope – an inventory.
Electric car or combustion engine? More and more car buyers are now faced with this question – at least if the significantly higher prices for electric vehicles do not categorically stand in the way of the switch. What applies to the individual also applies to the current situation. Because the end of the combustion engine seems just as little set in stone as the triumph of electric cars.
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E-car vs. combustion engine: That currently speaks for Stromer
Apart from the still distant ban on combustion engines in the EU, there are already signs that electric cars are not only indispensable, but also often have something ahead of combustion engines. Would you like a current example? EU-wide were in June 2023 for the first time more pure e-cars newly registered than diesel. The electric cars have thus in large parts of Europe for the first time overtaken a class of internal combustion engines.
On the one hand a reason to be happy, as the monthly victory shows that e-cars are becoming the car of choice for more and more people. On the other hand, this is only a snapshot that could quickly be reversed. In addition, electric cars have just left diesel vehicles behind. Petrol engines, on the other hand, are still a long way off. Since diesels are usually more expensive to buy, they also look more like e-cars to customers. The victory of the Stromer also shows her indirectly Problem: Electric cars are still far too expensive compared to petrol ones.
However, e-cars benefit from that A large majority of drivers had good experiences do with their new streamers. In a recent NDR survey, only 12 percent stated that they were dissatisfied with the range.
Even with the longer charging time – compared to a short refueling stop – the majority no longer gives a damn. 46 percent would like e-cars to be much faster.
Diesel and gasoline against electricity: There are still many problems ahead of electric cars
However, the same survey shows one of the big ones Problems with electric cars: The Majority of respondents don’t want one. 57 percent of those surveyed from northern Germany would therefore not rely on the fully electric drive the next time they buy a car. With the reasons is the much too high purchase price first of all.
The weak interest is now being felt by the German manufacturers. While VW, Mercedes, BMW and Co. have benefited from the extremely good order situation in recent years, they are currently going down significantly fewer new orders one – far too few, to be precise. According to insiders, the Orders for new electric cars across the industry have fallen by up to 50 percent. This is far more than just a warning shot.
The competitive pressure – especially from China – makes the situation for German e-cars all the more precarious:
Not only for this reason, but also because of this, experts see the goal of the federal government already failing: Getting 15 million electric cars on German roads by 2030 already seems to be the case today hardly to do. The reasons overlap: the lack of expansion of the charging infrastructure and the inability – or the unwillingness – many manufacturers, too affordable electric cars to bring to market are part of it.
The calls from observers are getting louder, the plan no longer watch failure. Revised measures and completely new incentives are needed in order to be able to achieve the ambitious goal through a jump in new registrations.
Boss Tesla: BMW, VW and Mercedes have to dress warmly
Not enough with these problems, the renowned automotive expert Ferdinand Dudenhöffer also warns of an old one Bogeyman of German manufacturers: Tesla. The e-car maker from the USA could continue to outperform Mercedes, VW and BMW in the coming years – and its seemingly unattainable goal of Easily create 20 million e-cars by 2030 – per year, mind you!
According to Dudenhöffer, the German car manufacturers simply had nothing to counter Tesla’s innovative production plans and sheer quantities. At best, they could still learn from Tesla’s Gigafactory in Grünheide, according to the car pope. On top of that, according to Elon Musk, Tesla could push the prices of its electric cars even further – and with it finally tighten the thumbscrews for German manufacturers.
Mobility – something is happening: E-cars, electric bicycles, e-scooters, the Germany ticket for 49 euros on the bus and train – all of this moves us in two ways. And what else has happened in terms of mobility?
Finally, there is a damper on the EU’s e-car ambitions – indirectly, but potentially all the more powerful. Although there is still a long way to go from phasing out combustion engines, there is one notable exception: As demanded by the FDP, among others, the EU Commission is now officially open to e-fuels.
Instead of e-cars at any price and without exception from 2035, it is now a question of only allowing new passenger cars to be registered from the deadline that Drive CO₂-free. That would not be a problem with combustion engines either, if they were only fill up with sustainably produced e-fuels can. The openness to technology that has been demanded for a long time – and quite controversial – has now arrived at the EU Commission.
March of e-cars comes to a standstill: Now anxious years are coming
It is currently difficult to foresee which branches the path of the automotive industry will take in the next few years. Despite the EU decision, however, it is likely to become increasingly clear that BEVs are nowhere near as secure as many had previously assumed. In the coming months and probably years to come, both industry and consumers will have to come to terms with an expensive and, above all, nerve-wracking uncertainty.
