German car-maker Audi came out pretty strong, and said 2026 is the last year they will make a car with gas or diesel engines. They intend to go on with battery E-cars from that point on.
The end?
If you go and look at enthusiasm for the E-car....there was a poll at the beginning of 2021....where 64-percent of Germans would at least consider the purchase of an E-car. 36-percent said 'no' to the E-car idea. The key term in this polling question...."consider".
I might also be a 'consider' person, but then you have the amount of time required for charging.....limited charging stations around the country....an entire day required to change out batteries with an unknown but hefty cost factor....and the general cost of electricity in Germany being substantially more than most all other European countries. Yeah, there's a lot to be suffering through, and it's just not a pleasant experience.
I sat and listened to a German give his humble view (engineering background), and he pointed out this one serious problem....once you put forty-odd power-use items on a car (like your stereo, your AC, your heat, your lights, power seats, blinkers, etc)....each item and its use...drains the battery. A simple day in July heat, with the AC running full-power?
I went looking for data. If you run an E-car, the optimal temp is 21.5 C/70 F. The advice given is that if you get into a minus-15 C/5 F situation, your typical range of 400 km.....goes down to 217 km. Serious winter period and operating the E-car? You probably aren't going into the Alps for a ski-trip.
Hot summer drive to Italy, or Spain? Same issues.
So I'll go out on the limb and predict that around 2028....Audi is standing there with a much smaller work-force, and in the midst of a harsh sales campaign with their E-cars....unable to really dig themselves out of this pit.
The other car-makers? Same story.
This will be an interesting era to live through and see how the car-makers/politicians survive.
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