EV Sales Are Booming in Europe with Gasoline at $10 a Gallon

bblondie9x about 3 hours ago 40 commentsRead Article on bloomberg.com

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delfugal•11 minutes ago

Gasoline would be $0.99 if EV platforms (build your own whatever) and low cost China Auto imports were available in America. But Elon has a hold on congress.

sippingabonedry•about 1 hour ago

Not in rural Europe it isn't.

There is still no widespread charging infra. Oh sure, there are chargers. If you're lucky and your town is on a state highway there might be one or two chargers in the entire town — their purpose being so visitors don't become stranded.

Outside of cities, they are not there in sufficient quantity for widespread adoption.

The apartment problem has not been solved either, and people do not have the time in their lives to dedicate to charging at a shared public charger.

Europe still loves its compact manual transmission cars; but what we may see is a transition away from diesel to petrol vehicles strictly for cost reasons.

solarkraft•40 minutes ago

I’m not claiming this to be an entirely solved issue, but the situations in which EVs make sense are already very broad and keep expanding. The city I live in has lantern chargers (admittedly not everywhere), some others are building them into curbs. Apartment parking spaces and garages are getting chargers installed. If you live rurally, chances are high you can install your own.

jareklupinski•about 1 hour ago

that's fine; the issues that electric cars are trying to solve in congested urban areas aren't as prevalent in rural areas, where diesel engines are still going to be doing most of the work anyway

mcv•41 minutes ago

I would expect that in rural areas, it's much easier to simply charge at home. It's harder when you live in an apartment and park on the street.

sippingabonedry•about 1 hour ago

That's fair; but articles like this tend to view reality as black or white, rather than the grey area it is.

Barrin92•about 1 hour ago

>The apartment problem has not been solved either, and people do not have the time in their lives to dedicate to charging at a shared public charger.

this looms much larger in the imagination than in reality given that the average urban European drives about 9-15km per day. If you're living in a space where charging space is in short supply you in all likelihood drive so little you maybe need to charge 3 times per month.

solarkraft•36 minutes ago

And this doesn’t even have to mean having to idly wait 20-30 minutes at a fast charger: Lots of shopping and work places have chargers now.

mauvehaus•about 1 hour ago

Who would have imagined that Vladimir Putin would oversee a sizeable NATO expansion, the reduction of European gas usage, and, in combination with Trump, the increased adoption of electric vehicles?

History may look back on them as having done rather a lot to move the world off of fossil fuels.

trgn•31 minutes ago

Piggybacking, talking about me!now but the last 5 years have shown me i know nothing

fakedang•30 minutes ago

Just like how Genghis Khan was responsible for a brief global cooling.

kristianp•about 2 hours ago

https://archive.is/dRArj

blondie9x•32 minutes ago

EVs plus charging with a grid powered by solar when the sun shines bright at midday is one of the most powerful forces in averting anthropogenic climate change.

gambiting•about 2 hours ago

I mean, I feel like even if petrol wasn't as expensive as it is, the sales would be booming anyway, maybe a sliver slower - for the simple reason that affordable EVs are now here and they are pretty damn good now. After years and years of lamenting "where are the EVs for your average Joe Smith" - they are now here. Funnily enough, they aren't made by Volkswagen or Peugeot, but they are here anyway. And Europe's cheapest new car - Dacia Spring - is an EV.

diath•about 1 hour ago

You're delusional if you think an EV is affordable for an average person. The average person barely makes enough to cover rent, food, bills and save a little money - 15-30k EUR for an entry level EV is out of question. Meanwhile most people can afford to get a late 90s/early 00s used car that will actually get the job done.

SupremumLimit•34 minutes ago

Average fleet age in EU looks to be around 13 years so when you say "most people", you're likely off by 10-15 years in terms of second hand purchases. Greece might be the only EU country that gets close to what you said. I get the point about affordability but it's good to base discussion on facts.

Also, EVs have been around for quite a few years now so it is no longer necessary to buy them new.

https://www.acea.auto/publication/report-vehicles-on-europea...

stoneman24•37 minutes ago

In the uk, there can be good deals on used EVs. My Hyundai Kona EV (64kWh) (2022 plate) was £18K for a 18 month old car with 9K miles on the clock and lots of options. It does about 280 miles on a charge and I do have the advantage of cheap home charging (8p per kWh) so it’s under a £5 for my weekly commute.

A big step up from my old Ford fiesta, just look for the deals

vjsrinivas•about 2 hours ago

Im on the verge of switching from PHEV to full EV. I just need a reasonably affordable EV with 450+ mile of range.

the_sleaze_•about 1 hour ago

Im curious - why do you need 450 miles of range?

My tesla goes 3 hours at 80mph. I can get to any charger I need. There are considerably more than I ever imagined.

ourmandave•about 1 hour ago

The Chevy Silverado EV will go 492 miles.

With a 30 year mortgage the $56K base model payments could be doable.

blondie9x•about 1 hour ago

It's better for the body to keep driving sessions to 3-4 hours max before you get up walk around and charge a bit. 330 mile range is more than enough. If you only use 60% of the battery to maximize its lifespan you can drive for 3.5 hours roughly before you deplete a battery from 80% -> 20%.

sippingabonedry•34 minutes ago

> is more than enough

This attitude of dictating others' car needs for them is one of the biggest hindrances to EV adoption and is also why rolling back CAFE regulations is going to be more popular than you think it is.

The general public doesn't like being told what to do.

kube-system•about 1 hour ago

There are a number of plausible rural drives in north america which do not have fast chargers for over 400 miles. EV infrastructure in the US is primarily concentrated on high-volume highways.

doubled112•about 1 hour ago

I don’t think people understand how convenient it is to be able to go 1000+ KM without thinking about filling up or charging, even if it isn’t in one trip.

I could do it in a 2002 Jetta. Why can’t I do it in a vehicle 25 years newer?

idontwantthis•about 1 hour ago

Why do you need that much range and what are you looking at that is anywhere near that?