So long for the Electric Vehicle

Even though the European Union has an official pledge to ban the sale of vehicles with combustion engines as of 2035, the car makers have decided to switch their production back to combustion engines.

The reason is quite simple, sales of Electric Vehicles in Europe have dropped quite sharply, and are mainly done by companies, because of the very interesting fiscal treatment of EV's for firms. Price is less of an issue for those companies.

But the average European isn't able to buy an Electric Vehicle, even though he pays less taxes on it yearly. The extra cost compared to a car that runs of gasoline is quite large. And the average European doesn't want his budget to be stricter because of the acquisition of an EV. So he keeps driving his old diesel or buys a new gasoline car.

Temporary?

The governments all say they want to keep the deadline of 2035 alive. But in reality this will very likely not be the case. First of all, car manufacturers have been able to create combustion engines that run on far less fuel than they used to, and there is the upcoming of synthetic gasoline. Which has no CO2 footprint whatsoever.

So the odds are actually in favour of the combustion engine again. Because there is another problem, the European electric grid is completely unprepared for a full blown EV car park for all Europeans. There are billions of Euros and decades necessary to upgrade the electric grid, so that everyone can drive and charge his or her EV...

The only thing that could swing it again, is a flood of cheap Chinese electric cars coming to the European market. But that won't probably happen, as the EU is preparing to use tariffs to make those Chinese EV's artificially expensive...

I guess I will stay with my hybrid Mercedes for a few years, and see where we are heading!

Sincerely,

Pele23

Posted Using InLeo Alpha