Two items were in the agreed stimulus package signed off by the coalition folks under Chancellor Merkel.
1. The 'bonus' for an E-car purchase.....went to 6,000 Euro (must be purchased by the end of 2021) and limited for the listed price up to 40,000 Euro. (updated: 5 June....amount will max at 9,000 Euro)
Germans fired up to buy E-cars? I'm not going to say much here. If you bring this up in conversation....the majority of Germans aren't that hyped up or feeling any enthusiasm for the battery cars.
I did the test-drive with the Audi E-car SUV last year, and frankly.....while it's a nice vehicle.....when you do all the research on the hundred-odd issues, you feel more of a burden with the E-Cars, than a plus-up.
One thing you notice....a hefty gas/diesel tax exists today, and you kinda notice it each time you pull into a station to refuel. If a quarter of the nation flipped over....the tax revenue bucket would be a problem. So you wonder....just where and how will they make up for the lost tax revenue, and how screwed will you be with the newly invented 'game'. I thought long and hard about putting the solar panels on the roof, and did the number-crunching. I would beat them at that game.....so the only answer on tax revenue is that they'd assess your mileage each year (during an inspection) and tax you on pure mileage (my humble guess).
2. 2.5-billion Euro is going into the pot for a bigger charging network around Germany, and to pay for more battery research.
Previous efforts have centered on money given out to states, and towns would place a charging station, with grants given for each charger or the station itself. It's not to say if the current stations are being used or even placed in a decent location. No one talks much about this success or failure.
A station in my village? No. There are two stations over in the next village. And beyond that.....there's a village which has a grocery store operation, with around four chargers.
The big game here is that you need to have a charger in your carport or garage, and it needs to be hooked up to your solar panels to save on cost. One negative in this game however....is that in the months of November through March....there's just not enough sunlight to run both your house, and your charger for the car.
I should add at this point.....Germany is ONE of these most expensive countries in the EU, for electrical cost. A number of folks who get into researching the E-cars....come to this one central 'truth', and just start laughing.
Hydrogen development? It continues on. I'm still of the opinion it's ten years away. But when it finally comes....the E-car enthusiasm will die out.
2 comments:
What amazes me is that the govt doesn't push (if they have to push anything) hybrid cars like the Prius as a transition instead of the all-or-nothing approach.
This gives the infrastructure to build up (power plants to support the many additional charging stations, etc.) and battery technology to advance to a longer run time and shorter charging period.
In an odd way, it reminds me of the turn-of-the-century arguments against steam-powered cars. No one was willing to wait 20-25 minutes for the engine to build up a head of steam. Their progeny sure as hell aren't going to wait six hours for a recharge during a trip. (You mentioned a six-hour recharge on a hypothetical journey in Germany, which roughly only measures 400 x 500 miles.
I know you are just talking about Germany, but just think of a 3,000 mile run across the United States. Hell, just to get through Texas is 800+ miles. :-) )
That, and I think many people are just not THAT enthused about a car that has a figurative umbilical cord. IMO, E-cars are a niche product that will never survive without a govt subsidy.
After having test-driven one from early 2019, I will say that the Audi vehicle is 5-star. However, once you do all the analysis and talk over the loss of fuel tax-revenue, and the government's funny grin....you just don't get a happy feeling.
I know that hydrogen cars are often discussed, and people keep saying it's five years away, but a dozen-odd problems exist with them. Locally, my metropolitan area is procuring a couple of hydrogen buses, and will have the 'refill' station to handle them. This is also the town that bought around fifty-odd E-buses, and they will be a regular thing on the streets by the end of next year. I do think the hydrogen technology (if you give them 10 to 15 years) is the better way to go, but would agree presently....the hybrid is the purest and simplest answer.
At some point in six years, as folks begin to purge their car batteries in mass....to get a newer battery....the environmental folks will go ballistic over the disposal plan for the batteries.
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