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"Have to be damn careful": Electricity cost explosion could endanger switch to electric cars, warns expert

2022-09-05T12:35:53.067Z


"Have to be damn careful": Electricity cost explosion could endanger switch to electric cars, warns expert Created: 09/05/2022 14:29 By: Julian Baumann Car expert Stefan Bratzel warns that the electricity price explosion could stall the e-car boom. © Sina Schuldt/dpa In view of the extreme electricity prices, car expert Stefan Bratzel warns of the effects on the ramp-up of e-mobility and calls


"Have to be damn careful": Electricity cost explosion could endanger switch to electric cars, warns expert

Created: 09/05/2022 14:29

By: Julian Baumann

Car expert Stefan Bratzel warns that the electricity price explosion could stall the e-car boom.

© Sina Schuldt/dpa

In view of the extreme electricity prices, car expert Stefan Bratzel warns of the effects on the ramp-up of e-mobility and calls for reactions from the government.

Stuttgart/Bergisch Gladbach – Energy prices have only known one direction for weeks: upwards.

The trade is already pushing for a third relief package to be passed in the near future, but the automotive industry is also feeling the increasing costs more and more clearly.

After the end of the tank discount, the fuel prices will also rise again significantly, but the electricity prices will rise much faster and thus have an impact on the ramp-up of e-car production, in which the large car manufacturers Mercedes-Benz, VW and Co. are currently located, as reported by BW24.

Due to the ever-increasing electricity prices, the automotive industry has already warned of the consequences for the future of e-cars.

Hildegard Müller, President of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), doubted that the renewable energies for the ramp-up of e-mobility could be produced in Germany alone and spoke out in favor of strategic partnerships.

Car expert Stefan Bratzel from the Center for Automotive Management (CAM) in Bergisch Gladbach also issued an urgent warning in an interview with the

Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung

(NOZ).

"The electricity price explosion could become an acute danger for the traffic turnaround, we have to be damn careful."

E-car usage costs must remain significantly cheaper than with combustion engines, says expert

In most cases, the production of an electric car is more expensive than that of a comparable combustion model.

According to Mercedes-Benz, the EQE electric car is already as profitable as its combustion engine counterpart.

The advantage of a battery-operated model, in addition to the climate-friendly aspects, is the overall lower consumption.

However, this could be reversed by rising electricity costs.

"The ramp-up of electromobility threatens to fail if the consumption of electric vehicles becomes more expensive than petrol or diesel," Stefan Bratzel made clear.

"Because then hardly anyone would buy an electric car." According to the expert, this would shake the entire switch, which "absolutely" must be prevented.

A frequently cited obstacle to the transformation to e-mobility in Germany is the country's still lacking charging infrastructure.

Mercedes boss Ola Källenius also called the expansion one of the most important prerequisites for the breakthrough of electric cars.

Battery-powered models have meanwhile prevailed against all other drives, but if the kWh at the charging stations costs more than the liter of petrol at the filling stations, drivers could change their mind again.

"The usage costs of electromobility must remain significantly cheaper than with combustion engines," said Stefan Bratzel of the

NOZ

.

"This price difference is needed to convince drivers to switch and not to completely unsettle the industry."

Car expert turns to politics: "It is important that drivers do not buy new combustion engines"

Like the association of the automotive industry before him, car expert Stefan Bratzel also turned to politicians with demands.

"A regulatory corset is needed that keeps electricity prices below fuel prices, so that in direct comparison with an electric car it's cheaper to travel 100 kilometers than with a petrol or diesel engine," he demanded.

Especially since from next year drivers will no longer receive a bonus for all e-cars, which could also slow down the ramp-up.

Bratzel also believes that inflation and the resulting decline in purchasing power could slow down e-mobility.

"That could also delay the market ramp-up and mean that drivers will be on the road longer with their diesel or petrol engines."

With the decision of the EU countries to allow only climate-friendly new cars from 2035, the ramp-up of electric car production should actually be accelerated.

Until then, however, Mercedes, BMW and VW will still be allowed to sell combustion engines, and even after 2035, petrol and diesel-powered cars will not simply disappear from the streets.

"It is important that they do not buy new combustion engines," said Stefan Bratzel of the

NOZ

.

“Politicians are also asked to make the use of e-mobility more practical, i.e. to expand the charging infrastructure.” However, an energy association recently described the alleged lack of charging stations for e-cars as “a completely wrong picture”.

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2022-09-05

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