E-mobility will play a central role in the turnaround in traffic.
But is it worth buying an electric car?
The pros and cons.
Munich - When do electric cars dominate the streetscape across the board?
There are well over a billion cars on the road worldwide, most of them with an internal combustion engine.
There are also hundreds of millions of motorcycles or scooters.
Europe, China and the USA are playing a pioneering role in the traffic transition and are noticeably driving the upheaval towards e-mobility.
The question that more and more car buyers are asking themselves in Germany: Is it worth buying an electrified vehicle or should it be better to wait?
An overview:
Electric car: e-premiums, tax breaks and increasing ranges
Acquisition costs: In
comparison, cars with an electric motor are more expensive than comparable models with a combustion engine. But government subsidies ensure that the purchase price of an electric car drops by thousands of euros: On the one hand, this is due to the e-car subsidy, which is 9,000 euros (base price up to 40,000 euros) or 7,500 euros (base price up to 65,000 euros). Hybrid cars are also supported with an innovation bonus * (6750 euros). In addition, there is a vehicle tax exemption for Stromer until 2030. There are even additional tax benefits for electric company cars.
Choice:
The range of electric cars - particularly affordable - is far less than that of vehicles with gasoline or diesel engines. But more and more manufacturers are adding affordable models to their portfolio, so that small e-cars are sometimes available for prices starting at 10,000 euros. With VW, the largest car company in Europe is also pressing ahead with its model range, and in a few years an electric counterpart will also be launched in the small car segment. Volkswagen showed the prospect of an allegedly inexpensive electric car at the IAA 2021. Other corporations from Asia and Europe are also pressing ahead with the market launch of affordable electric cars.
Range:
The times when electric cars can only drive a few hundred kilometers with a fully charged battery are slowly but obviously coming to an end.
As an evaluation by
Efahrer.com
recently showed, there are more and more Stromers on the market for which ranges between 400 and 500 kilometers are no longer utopian.
In view of meticulous development work - in which state subsidies also play a major role - ever better ranges are achieved, and long distances with e-cars are likely to become more and more attractive in the medium term.
That inevitably leads to the next point ...
E-cars and the infrastructure: public and private charging network
Electric charging
stations:
The patchy infrastructure at charging points is undoubtedly one of the biggest obstacles to the breakthrough of electric mobility.
There are tens of thousands of charging stations in Germany, but most of them are located in metropolitan areas.
Outside the metropolitan areas you have to plan charging stops, for example via apps.
Two pensioners recently informed Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer in a letter of complaint * what pitfalls lurk here.
Then there is the question of whether infrastructure can cope with the growing demand.
A development from Great Britain shows what could be waiting for electric car drivers in Germany: From May 2022, electric cars will no longer be allowed to charge in their garage or at work for nine hours a day - because British operators fear a collapse of the distribution network!
In the meantime, a wallbox is the solution for the home garage - but here, too, there are pitfalls that can be nerve-wracking and make a purchase complicated: This starts with building regulations, leads to strict requirements for state support * and leads to considerable costs for the Installation.
Charging an electric car: Waiting times are reduced - energy prices are the focus
Waiting times when charging:
Another disadvantage of electric cars is that charging processes take longer than stopping at gas stations with petrol or diesel. If a combustion engine is filled up, a normal process, including payment, usually takes around five minutes. Charging processes for electric vehicles are getting shorter and shorter - even today, a range of several hundred kilometers is possible after charging processes of 20 minutes. You don't have to be a clairvoyant to recognize that the time required with modern electric drive systems will continue to decrease in the medium term.
Energy consumption:
A major disadvantage of electric cars is the onset of winter or cold.
Modern energy guzzlers in the form of various heaters (seats, steering wheel, rear window, etc.) cost range, plus the conventional heat regulation of the passenger cell.
All these components, which incidentally also drive up fuel consumption in combustion cars, cost 10 to 30 percent of range in electric cars, according to an analysis by the ADAC.
Energy prices:
And what about the problem of the sharp rise in electricity prices?
The current price increase in the energy sector frightens many citizens and poses potential e-car buyers with the question of whether the purchase of an electric vehicle can be financed at all?
Energy economist Claudia Kemfert explains this to
Wirtschaftswoche
: “The price of electricity could easily be reduced.
On the one hand, the EEG surcharge will fall anyway *.
Because it is calculated from the difference to the electricity exchange price, and that is going through the roof at the moment, ”says the expert from the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW).
In addition, she calls on the government to lower the electricity tax in the course of increasing CO2 prices.
In their opinion, electric cars are “much more energy-efficient than combustion engines due to their design”.
Even with high electricity prices, you would save money with an electric car.
According to a McKinsey study, e-cars can already be sold for a profit * now.
If the manufacturers do everything right, they can expect fantastic returns.
(PF)
* Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA
