- cross-posted to:
- world@lemmy.world
- cross-posted to:
- world@lemmy.world
The EU executive appears to have yielded to the call from carmakers to be allowed to keep selling plug-in hybrids and range extenders with CO2-neutral biofuel or synthetic fuel
the electric vehicle industry says this will undermine investment and result in the EU yielding even more ground to China in the shift to EVs
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Guys, guys! They found huge oil reserves under Bavaria! :D
we’rethe auto industry is saved!Dumbasses.
just undercutting the economy. so short sighted. China is already way ahead, so let’s check notes do nothing!
It is still their fault for complacently failing to plan ahead 25 years ago and resting on their ICE laurels until the competition ate their lunch. The rest of the world will keep buying chinese cars and Europe will lag behind forever in this.
Wtf is going on Europe? You used to be cool.
No, we didn’t… our propaganda is top-notch, tho.
LobbyismCorruptionAmericanisation.
Enshittification. Oh you already said Americanisation.
Yes, here is some information about the career of the German Chancellor, who is currently using his influence to weaken the ban on combustion engines.
Friedrich Merz (born November 11, 1955, in Brilon), tenth Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany since May 6, 2025, CDU federal chairman since 2022, former business lawyer and long-time top lobbyist, has held leadership positions in a number of companies and business-related interest groups and networks. [1] Until the end of 2021, Merz was vice president of the CDU’s business lobby group, the Economic Council, and a guest member of the presidium of the Small and Medium-Sized Business and Economic Union (MIT). In 2022, the MIT welcomed Merz’s election as CDU chairman and stated that he was the first chairman to be a member of the MIT.[4] Armin Peter, most recently deputy press spokesman for the Economic Council and press spokesman for the then Economic Council Vice President Merz, has been deputy spokesman for the CDU and personal press spokesman for Merz since February 2022.[5] [6] Merz continues to be a member of the following organizations: Founding member of the New York section of the CDU Economic Council,[7] lobby organization Society for the Study of Structural Policy Issues,[8] Ludwig Erhard Foundation network, which brings together lobbyists and top politicians. Merz worked as senior counsel for the law firm Mayer Brown LLP until the end of 2021; prior to that, he was a partner for nine years.[9] During his time at Mayer Brown, he advised clients on corporate law, M&A transactions, compliance, and banking and finance law. According to research by CORRECTIV, he represented BASF as a lawyer on several occasions in 2010 and 2011. [10] He was a member of the board of directors at BASF Antwerp for almost a decade, where he headed the “Paints & Pigments” division of the BASF Group. From 2009 to 2019, Merz was chairman of Atlantik-Brücke [11] and from 2016 to 2020, he was chairman of the supervisory board of the German branch of asset manager BlackRock, for which he mediated relationships with important clients, authorities, and government agencies in Germany. [12] He was active in the Market Economy Foundation as a member of the Political Advisory Board of the Tax Code Commission. [13] In connection with his candidacy for the CDU party chairmanship, Merz ended his role as chairman of the supervisory board of Blackrock at the end of the first quarter of 2020.[14][15] At the 2021 CDU party conference, he lost a digital runoff election to his rival Armin Laschet. At the party conference on January 22, 2022, he was elected chairman of the CDU with 94.62% of the delegates’ votes. [16] On September 23, 2024, Merz was officially nominated as the CDU and CSU’s candidate for chancellor in the next federal election. [17]
[Translated from German | Source with source references]
What I really don’t get is: why even lobby for this? There is no benefit to anyone. EVs are just better. They will take over.
A CEO is judged almost exclusively on short term performance. That then pervades throughout the organisation. If the CEO were to take a truly long term perspective, short term profits would suffer and he’d get kicked out. This just recently happened to the CEO of Volkswagen.
I hear ICE vehicles have a better profit margin (or I guess they just sell them for the same prices as EVs which don’t have the same optimised production regimes yet and are therefore more expensive).
I agree but at the minute a diesel engine is by far the better option for me personally
My car is 14 years old and has nearly 200,000 miles on it. I can’t afford a newer car. I spend a couple of hundred a year to keep it going and have done for years
My brother had an EV from 2020 and recently sold it due to running costs. They’re heavier and chew through tyres more quickly. Then his started showing faults and was getting repairs that were pretty expensive. He got at least one replacement module and it cost him thousands. Other things like rods and suspension were getting replaced when be decided to sell it. Hes been a mechanic for 35 years and couldn’t believe the things that were already going wrong with a young car with relatively low miles
Again I agree with you on them taking over and they are better in a lot of ways but for now it wouldn’t make any sense for me and these are just some of the reasons
You not needing a new car is pointless because we are only talking about new cars. Already before this change you could have continued driving your old car or still buy used diesel cars.
The point about your brothers car sounds like a vehicle or vehicle model specific construction problem (brand?) and not due to it being an EV. It is a fact that EVs have much less mobile parts and therefore much less wear and tear. So except for the mentioned tyre tear due to increased weight (there are also heavy ICE vehicles) running costs should be lower.
I can’t really speak for other brands but his was a VW, not some unknown make. And he was replacing suspension items (not exactly sure what bits) but he was shocked at having to replace them parts with a new and low mileage car. If you look on EV forums its not uncommon
If his car makes it to nearly what my car is, who knows how many more tyres and suspension parts he’d replace in that time. And he’d probably need new batteries or if not, they’d be down in performance for sure
Theres so many more factors too. Like taking my young kids on camping trips and waiting 30 mins on an expensive fast charger if there is one and assuming no one else is using it at the time. Finding chargers in rural locations would be another thing I’d have to plan, my country isn’t massively equipped, although it does have some infrastructure, especially around the bigger towns. They cost more to buy new and second hand. Battery lifespan is a bit of an unknown for old EVs as none of them are that old yet but the replacement could cost more than a good second hand car. His insurance was much higher on his EV too
That said, I still do think its the future, its just my circumstances and my location right now means that it makes more sense for me to use a combustion engine. One of the things I look for most in a car is the bootspace for the camping trips and one big advantage an EV has for me is the space they have
EV are great for camping. You literally have a huge battery with you to power or charge your stuff.
Concerning the charging stops my experience is that they are no problem at all. After 2-3 hours driving you should rest anyways and especially with (small) kids you have to. And even without eating anything the charge often is completed before everyone is ready to go again.
The point about the missing infrastructure is actually an argument pro a determined combustion ban to encourage improvement there.
