Germans Are Electro Skeptics
Germans are ready to buy an electric car. Under conditions: The car must come with a justifiable price, and with the performance one expects from a common ICE. In other words: Forget about it. Nein.
PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Fraunhofer-Institute conducted a joint research project to fathom the future of the EV. Their conclusion, as per Das Autohaus: “Limited marketability.” That’s German for “you’ve got to be nuts to bet on it.”
60 percent of Germany’s drivers would only buy an EV if it costs and delivers the same as a regular car. Knowing how people hide the truth when questioned about environmental issues (or radical political leanings) it’s probably a good guess that most of the other 40 percent are lying.
Outlook for mass electrification is bleak: By 2020, the experts see 55,000 EVs in Germany, used in a car-sharing setting for inner-city mobility. That, ladies and gentlemen, reflects 0.1 percent of Germany’s cars.
Germans suffer from a communal case of range anxiety. 90 percent think the current range is unacceptable. Even people who predominantly drive in the city want their range if and when they need it. What if we visit grandma? How do we drive to the Mediterranean during holidays?
And what about the planet? The jury is divided. 50 percent believe that only the EV will help averting ecological disaster. The other 50 percent says that the electricity must come from somewhere (oil, coal, nuclear, Russian gas…,) and it’s only green if it’s made in an ecologically responsible way. In other words: No.
Now mind you, these are the same Germans who live in that country with the supposedly stellar public transportation system, where the next city is just a short stroll away, and where people don’t need a car as badly as people in flyover states, or in Levittown, NY.
PS: The German government just poured even colder water over the whole Elektroauto thing: Government money to subsidize the outrageous prices of batteries-on-wheels? Forget about it. Automobilwoche [sub] just reported: “The German government will not subsidize the purchase of electric vehicles.” The most they will possibly, maybe do is let EVs use bus lanes, vielleicht, unter Umständen. A little less tax, maybe. That’s it. That days before a big EV-summit on Monday in Berlin. It won’t be a happy meeting.
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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And it won't work in the USA either.
>>>> And what about the planet? The jury is divided. 50 percent believe that only the EV will help averting ecological disaster. Really? I wonder what percentage realize there is no coming ecological disaster, whether we switch to electrics or not. Enviro-nuts love to spell out these end of the world scenarios that never come to pass.