Leawood911:
When someone like me who does not concern himself about climate stuff and focuses just on fun and practicality on a limited budget can’t see any way of ever buying an ice car then the game has shifted. Just my personal observation. I’m a hard core long distance driver who has driven nothing but 911s. Game over. It is just a matter of time. Pretty much today in the US not five years from now. The level 3 chargers pump almost 1000 miles per hour into the car, 98% of charging is done overnight at home. Costs of repairs and fuel are ridiculously low, the car and insurance are totally affordable vs ice and I’m not going to lie it is a blast to drive and I drive like I stole it most of the time. So carefully invest in ice companies going forward. They are way behind the curve. Do not compare them unless they include the safety and autonomy the leader has. Unless you like to rationalize, which is fine.
From what I can see advanced battery tech like solid state batteries will most likely come prior to any type of fuel cell. Hybrid not so much. It is too complicated while simplicity is at hand with just a few moving parts.
It is time to identify the market losers and short them folks.
Most of my customers I talk to would never consider an EV, unless it would be much cheaper than current ice cars.
Also, the charging, production (batteries), recycling (batteries), safety issues haven't been solved yet.
Example: A Tesla driver had an accident in Austria, the car burned down (not Tesla's fault). It took six(!) weeks to find a company to be able to actually remove the battery from the accident scene and to store it. Apparently it took the same amount of time for Tesla to send experts to help out with this issue.
Another example: Munich. New houses/buildings usually get sub terrain garages because of limited and very expensive construction space. It would only be rational to install charging stations into these garages but...the Munich city council forbids it. Not safe according to the fire department and experts. They don't know what to do if an EV starts to catch fire during charging (and it could happen).
Other example: My Range Rover dealer. They wanted to install six charging stations for their hybrids and for customers. Request denied by the local energy company because there isn't capacity for that (the dealership is a little bit outside the city).
Another example: New construction site with 120 condos in a Bavarian city. Construction company wanted to install 12 charging stations outside(!) and it has been denied. Same reason: Not enough capacity from the local energy company, only 3 charging stations were approved.
Again another example: Porsche was supposed to deliver the Taycan to their dealerships in Germany. Cars would arrive pretty much "empty", so the dealership would need to charge them before they pass the car on to the customer. Only problem is: With so many cars incoming, there just isn't capacity to do that at some dealerships. Dealerships have to and will be retrofitted over time but same issues here, they can only install the charging capacity the local energy company "approves".
Sorry to say that but this is pure chaos. In Germany, most people do not want EVs and you won't see many on the roads either. Yes, EVs are the future, even if I think that some sort of fuel cell tech for charging makes more sense from a practical point of view.
The only reason I would get an EV right now is my curiosity for new tech and my love for "gadgets". I am not interested in anything else.
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RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor Lamborghini Huracan Performante (2019), Mercedes E63 S AMG Edition 1 (2018), Mercedes C63 S AMG Cab (2019), Range Rover Evoque Si4 Black Edition (2019)