From NoTricksZone

By P Gosselin on 18. February 2023

As the EU Parliament voted on February 14th to ban the registration of new fossil fuel cars beginning in 2035, it appears the folly of the idea is just beginning to dawn on those who had been expected to take a more critical stand much earlier.

AI generated image, dall.e 2. 

Moreover, it appears even the regular German citizens are finally having doubts about the mad rush to e-mobility, as a new Allensbach survey suggests.

“Many people in Germany still have reservations about the widespread adoption of electric cars, mainly because of their high cost,” reports the German Blackout News here. “Although a majority of respondents believe that electric drives will become established in the next ten years, only 22 percent consider this desirable.”

There are number of reasons why Germans are not sold on the idea of electric cars, among them: the environmental impacts of mining the raw materials to produce the batteries and the after-life recycling. Another problem is the limited range and heavy weight of electric cars. The biggest reason why Germans are not inclined to switch to electric cars is the high price.

“According to the survey, the main reservations about electric cars are the purchase price, the limited number of charging stations, expensive electricity and doubts about the environmental balance, as well as the now threatened throttling of electricity purchases,” Blackout News sums up.

Cars remain an indispensable means of travel for German citizens, and so cost and reliability will remain the top factors to consider when a car purchase gets made. While 47% of the respondents said they use a car daily, only 18% said they use a bicycle daily.

Alternatives too pricey, inefficient

Blackout News also reports why other options like hydrogen are not going to be a real alternative, due to the high costs involved in producing hydrogen and “the lack of infrastructure for its distribution.”

The same is true concerning e-fuels, which are very electricity-intensive and inefficient in internal combustion engines, experts say.

Experts do point out that e-cars are “the environmental optimum”, but only if they are powered by green electricity generated from renewable energy sources such as wind or solar plants. In most countries this is far from being the case.

No “yuppie” rules

Germany’s opposition leader Friedrich Merz of the center-right Christian Democrat Union (CDU) sharply criticized the EU Parliament’s call for a ban of the internal combustion engines beginning 2035: “We will not take our cue from the yuppies in the big cities,” the CDU leader said. (See story, Die Welt here).