German here… this is bullshit. Of course some people love combustion cars. But most people doesnt really care. Moste people care for price, safety, and functions.
I think this article should be assumed more at the lobby of the combustion car industry with their conservative stubbornness and less against the individual Germans.
Too bad for them?? We really love the sounds and looks of old steam trains but understand that they’re not the grandest for the environment so we prefer electric trains over all.
Germany is the European country with the highest percentage of people who rent homes instead of owning them.
Which automatically means we’re dependent on public charging infrastructure for our cars, which is woefully underdeveloped.
I would love to buy an electric car but it just doesn’t make any sense. There’s your real reason, dear French newspaper.
So pass a law that every rental property has to have a charger.
Passing sensible laws with the fucking CDU in charge is just not going to happen.
I agree that it is much better and more convenient to be able to charge your car at home with your own wallbox.
However, I do not believe that the current availability of charging stations in Germany is the main problem. There are many places where you can charge your car apart from petrol stations: supermarkets, hardware stores, restaurants, parking garages, at work. Yes, it takes a bit of time to get used to it, but it’s not really a problem in most places in Germany.
Source: owner of an electric car who rents a flat in Germany
Well, it is a huge problem for me. Home office, so no charging at workplace. And the only charging stations around where I live (eastern part of Berlin) are slooooow charging stations, meaning I would have to plan for a 6-hour visit to the supermarket.
Quick charge stations are few and far between, and in use most of the time.
That doesn’t just take a bit of time getting used to, it’s simply not feasible.
On the charging map, I can see more than a dozen available fast charging stations (>=150 kW) in East Berlin. But I don’t know your exact situation and I believe you when you say it just doesn’t make sense for you.
From my experience, I can only say that I have never been in a situation where there was no fast charging option within 10 km when I needed it. I have also never encountered a situation where all the spaces at a charging station were occupied.
How many actually work. VWs network in Canada is unreliable.
I have driven about 30,000 km in my electric car and charged it at over 50 different charging stations in Germany, Switzerland, Italy and the Netherlands. So far, I have not had a single technical problem that prevented me from charging.
petrol stations […] hardware stores, restaurants
None in my area have chargers. Some farther away do, but only up to 22kW, see below.
Supermarkets
They’ve got some chargers, but only up to 22kW, only while you’re shopping. I can’t shop groceries for multiple hours while my car charges.
parking garages
None nearby except the one at the supermarket. See above.
at work
My employer declined to buy into the chargers the industrial park put up, so I am not allowed to use them.
I frequently drive 150+ km a day for my job, so I’d need to be able to fully charge up two or three times a week depending on the car model, battery size and season. I either need slow charging in walking distance to my home or public fast chargers, otherwise it’s a non starter.
It’s not just noise, and not just cars.
The sound of “fast” for me is a liquid cooled two stroke motorcycle engine. Imprinted on them in my teens. And the smell of “fast” is burned fully synthetic two stroke oil. It’s been thirty years and I still get a positive emotional reaction to hearing and smelling a “modern” two stroke engine running.
These days I drive a “boring” emissions compliant diesel (not a VW 😜) and ride a four stroke. But I deeply understand the emotional connection people have to the sensory experience of their vehicles. For me it’s freedom, excitement, speed, challenge.
I liken it to listening to your favorite band on headphones vs seeing them in concert. One experience is just hearing the song, the other you feel with your whole body.
But for everyday use, I would rather just listen to music on my headphones instead of constantly being at a concert :D
To each their own, I’d rather hear music live in the open air than through headphones.
You didn’t read what I wrote… unless you really want to be living in a constant concert
BS, the vast majority of German drivers are frugal about spending money for fuel and prefer efficiency over power. There will always be the minority gearheads who will scream the loudest.
No offence intended but Duh. People who are passionate about something dont want it banned. I’m one of those people and yes we will push back because we all know most of the worlds polution is caused by big buisness and industry. When people talk about banning ALL combustion engines it reads to me like “recycling will save the environment”
Most of the worlds driving population doesnt give a fuck about driving enjoyment or feel any real passion for driving or cars. The enthusiasts and enthusiast cars arent the lions share of the problem. If the electric grocery getters were significantly cheaper the vast majority of people will adopt them. Id gladly only take my petrol engine out for special occasions if I could also afford an EV to get stuck in traffic in.
most of the worlds polution is caused by big buisness and industry.
There is definitely truth in this. But I also think it’s a dangerous attitude to perpetuate. Because blaming the majority offender can counterintuitively lead to an endless loop of passing responsibility along. Case in point when some people in relatively smaller countries argue that its not their responsibility to cut emissions because countries like China and India are the majority polluters. China and India can then point to developed countries having made more cumulative emissions over time. Eventually someone has to take a stand and make a change, even if the main impact is to initiate a cultural shift.
Oh agreed, just pointing out that when you throw around the idea of outright bans of course the people who are passionate will hate it, dig their heels in and call bullshit.
Governments need to leave the door open for the small number of petrolheads who are prepared to pay a premium to continue doing what they LOVE and use that premium to make EVs more practical and affordable for the vast majority of people who “Just need something to get me from A to B” to the point where even the diehards will say “It just doesnt make sense to drive this thing every day, Ill get an EV for a daily driver”
In my experience, the people who holds that view are also the people who are not going to buy a car anyway.
Once they do need a new car, they will try an electric and then they’ll change their mind.
Hard disagree. As a car person, it’s about the mechanical simplicity and feedback you get from the car.
Electronic steering and throttles already took a lot of the “road feel” from most modern cars. Fully electric cars compound the issue with awkward “engine noises” and fake gear shifts… none of that really translates how the car is actually performing on the road. Think of it like listening to music on headphones vs being there in concert, it’s about the feel of the experience. Every single electric car I’ve driven had had no soul, no feel. You’re so disconnected from the road grip feels like a total guess when you’re moving quickly. Paired with distracting “saftey features” that can’t properly read the road and screens galore most electric vehicles are obnoxious, distracting, and dull to drive.
Not to mention, If my car breaks down I can usually pull out some basic tools and spend a couple hours fixing it, because it’s mostly mechanical features. The majority of electric vehicles require proprietary software and tools to do very basic maintenance. Plus, any sort of aftermarket changes requires an incredible amount of electrical engineering practice to not totally brick the car.
TLDR: electric cars are dull and exceedingly difficult for average folks to repair easily. Mechanically minded folk want to feel connected to their car and electronic cars don’t give you that.
Fully electric cars compound the issue with awkward “engine noises” and fake gear shifts
What? No, they do not, unless you make it. But who the hell would pay such gimmicks?
Actually I disagree with everything you said.
Driving electric is much more pleasant and a more direct wheel to tarmac experience. I thought I would miss the feeling of tossing the car through the gears and roaring the engine around a corner, but I don’t. It’s a lot more satisfying to accelerate with a more linear torque increase that doesn’t make your head nod like doll everytime the engine hits the maximum revolutions in a gear. Getting pushed back into the seat is fun and enjoyable in all cars, but even more so when the tickling in your stomach doesn’t stop until you let go of the accelerator.
Electric cars have electric engines. The engine hardly ever breaks. The maintenance required on electric cars are the same as on cars with combustion engines, except that combustion engines have more parts that can break. Software vs hardware is also exactly the same. Modern cars with combustion engines have the same amount of crappy software errors as electric cars. None of it has anything to do with the engine.
The sound is different, sure. It doesn’t roar like a bear. Instead it hisses like a vicious cat.
German newspaper: french eat frog.
Many Germans - dozens even! I mean, you will always have internal combustion enthusiasts and that is ok - they should be free to practice their hobby so long as they don’t bother others too much. But I imagine they would daily drive an ev on most days if they found it more convenient and drive their hobby cars on special occasions.
At one point I will buy a used El Camino (the.most.useless.pickup), tinker with it, hopefully with my son (now 3 yo) put in a 400hp Chevrolet LS engine and never drive it unless it’s sunny.
For my daily use I seldom travel over 15 km. and currently use a petrol mini One and have Mazda6 estate for family travel (the amount of bulky stash traveling with a small child necessitates is mind-numbing)
An EV estate/ would cover both uses, so I totally agree with you
So fucking much this.
I think the world needs a version of the Japanese Kei car rules. You build a pure EV with a range of at least X, a maximum power of Y with a small footprint and we will make them intensely cheap to tax and insure. The market will sort itself out.
They have a deep relationship with trains too, but things are getting worse every year…
What ? Emotional connection to a car ? They are describing a phsycological problem.
I hear more and more people in Germany saying „my next car is going to be electric“ and sales are ramping up. This starts now that the tabloid media reduced their anti-propaganda and it’s generally not a big topic anymore. People don’t feel pushed anymore and can form their own opinion by seeing others live a normal life with electric cars.
Some people just wants the familiar because we still have simplistic lizard brain. This even goes with manual and automatic cars, there are people who dismiss automatic cars and look down on its drivers. But the same people quickly change their minds once they drive automatic.
Eh, I find driving auto a bit boring compared to MT.
I also like being able to specifically control my gear by default and not needing to rely on torque vs how much gas I’m giving it, though understand that there are semi-auto paddle shift cars out there that can do the same. I acknowledge that the better performance argument has been false for a long time (at least when looking at auto transmissions in cars where performance is a focus).
It’s mostly about it being more fun/enjoyable (even stop and go). Though, I drive a Nissan, and their MT is more reliable than their CVT, so there is at least one practical advantage in addition to the “potential thief can’t drive stick, might not even get car started let alone moving” scenario.
We move through life facing events that are emotionally hard to accept. It’s built in like that.
German here. Bought an electric Car. Can’t avoid the future 😅
Another German, one EV and one ICE in our garage.
I am quite Happy that my Family ditched theyre Fuel Car from now 12 Years Ago (Some Black Mazda :P) as it broke down now :D and bought to an Electric Car from Renault R4 which is a tiiiiny bit Smaller but theyre Happy with it overall :D (just sucks that it has Google really that you cant disabled -.-)
