Bummer: 34% Of German EV Owners Switching Back To Fossil Fueled Vehicles

Again, I have nothing against them. If you want one, get one. In many cases, though, what seems like a great deal doesn’t work out that way in practice (via Green Jihad)

Electric car frustration? One in three people switches back to combustion engines

If the traffic light government has its way, the transport transition should actually only take place in one direction: by 2035 at the latest, no more vehicles with conventional diesel or petrol engines should be allowed to be sold, and by then the proportion of electric cars should steadily increase.

But this plan is not working at the moment. After the subsidies were abolished, not only are fewer and fewer vehicle owners switching from combustion engines to electric cars, but a countermovement has now even started: more and more electric car drivers are switching back to a combustion engine when buying their next vehicle.

This is shown by data from Huk Coburg, which claims to be the largest German car insurer. According to the data, around 34 percent of all electric car owners switched back to a diesel or petrol vehicle in the first nine months of this year.

And the trend is clearly rising: last year, the rate of those switching back was only 28 percent, in 2022 it was 17.5 percent, and in 2021 it was 14.2 percent. Apparently, electric cars cannot convince many owners to stick with this form of propulsion in the long term.

At the same time, the number of people switching from a combustion engine to an electric car continues to fall. This was the case for just 3.6 percent of those insured this year. In the last quarter of the previous year, this figure was 40 percent higher.

Why? Well, that’s not included. I’d suggest one issue is that it isn’t actually cheaper to own an EV for many people if they cannot charge at home, which is where the savings come in. Cost of tires is going to be more, as they wear out quicker due to the weight of EVs. Insurance costs are around 25% higher. Many probably do not like the range and realized after purchase that an EV is inconvenient.

As for purchasing, well, without massive subsidies EVs are much more expensive. Consider: you can buy one on lease for $389 for 36 months/30000 miles with zero down. But, without all those subsidies and such, that $50,000 EV would be way, way, way, way more, especially since EV residuals tend to be around 50%. That’s not good.

As Green Jihad notes

None of this is surprising considering the lack of planning and preparation that took place when European and even U.S. leaders began their effort to encourage their citizens to buy electric vehicles. This on top of the overall costs associated with owning one. Their overall impact on reducing carbon emissions are minimal at best if one ignores how much manufacturing and owning electric cars and trucks are worse for the natural environment than gas-powered ones.

Yup.

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