The automotive industry is undergoing a transformation, where more and more emphasis is placed on ecology. Thus, the retreat of internal combustion engines and the transformation of factories is slowly taking place, but with the transformation, a number of mistakes are also spreading, which were focused on by German colleagues from the magazine Auto Bild.
Electromobility has become a much-discussed topic in recent years. However, there are still quite a few rumors and half-truths surrounding battery electric cars. What about CO?2-neutrality, costs or efficiency? Are synthetic e-fuels an alternative? And what about the availability of electric cars?
Colleagues from the German magazine Auto Bild focused on these questions and selected several of the most frequently repeated erroneous statements. These concern both electromobility, combustion engines and the automotive industry in general. After all, this is shown by the very first statement:
Climate-neutral vehicle production is possible. An optimistic statement, which, however, German colleagues call a mistake! Car manufacturers often promote electric cars not only as vehicles with zero emissions, but also climate-neutrally produced, which also applies to the VW ID.4, for example. However, environmental organizations such as Greenpeace criticize these statements and refute them with their own research.
Therefore, although the production of electric cars uses energy more efficiently than before, the promised climate neutrality only works because manufacturers buy CO2 certificates. In addition, ecological projects behind compensation models are often controversial because the reduction of CO2 cannot always be proven seriously.
E-fuels are an alternative to electric cars. The idea, which many fans of combustion engines look up to, is also wrong, according to German colleagues. At the outset, let’s just remind you that e-fuels are synthetic hydrocarbons based on electricity, structurally almost identical to fossil fuels. It is therefore possible to refuel them in existing cars
Unlike synthetic biofuels, however, the energy in e-fuels comes from clean energy sources such as wind power or photovoltaics. However, according to current knowledge, it is not entirely clear how to produce e-fuels cost-effectively and in large quantities so that they can power millions of combustion cars in a climate-neutral manner.
Claiming that electromobility is affordable for many people, then it probably doesn’t need further comment. Although research by Auto Bild and ADAC confirms that electric cars have a clear lead over cars with internal combustion engines when comparing operating costs, this advantage is paid for by an above-average purchase price. The average price of 78 electric cars on the German market is around 48,700 euros, which translates to about 1,146,000 CZK.
Indicative information about the range? Don’t rely on them too much. As stated by German colleagues, the WLTP range figure is based on a test process where the car spends most of its time driving at a constant speed of 100 km/h. At the same time, it is interrupted twice by the braking and acceleration cycle. On a route that is approximately 31.1 kilometers long, the electric car moves in a relatively narrow speed range, which is not too much of a challenge for it. The machine thus barely reaches a maximum speed of 131 km/h. It is therefore not surprising that electric car owners almost never reach the WLTP range under normal conditions.
Internal combustion engines no longer play a role in Germany: Although in Germany they are significantly ahead in terms of preferences for electromobility, internal combustion engines are definitely not written off on the market there. Neighbors’ goal is 15 million electric cars by 2030. But as desirable as a rapid increase in the number of electric cars would be from a climate perspective, many different issues need to be addressed, including the expansion of charging infrastructure, battery recycling and the availability of raw materials.
Currently, there should be around a million electric cars on German roads, which is not a small number, but there should be around 48 million internal combustion cars. Many of them will still be on the road for several years or even decades.
Battery electric cars are always economical: Here we mainly encounter the problem of weight, related not only to batteries, but also to customer preferences. Medium-sized SUVs already weigh more than two tons empty today, large SUVs more than 2.5 tons. And more importantly: air resistance. This consists of aerodynamic efficiency (cW value) and frontal area (A). From a speed of approximately 60 km/h, air resistance is the biggest driving resistance and does not increase linearly, but as a multiple of speed – consumption then increases enormously. This is where a large part of the efficiency of electric cars is lost.
A frequent argument for electrification is also the claim that electric cars are less problematic than combustion engines. No pistons, no crankshaft, no exhaust problems, etc. Due to the simpler powertrain, electric cars should be better in terms of durability and maintenance than internal combustion engines. However, at least in the TÜV statistics, this theoretical advantage has not yet manifested itself, as colleagues from Auto Bild add.
According to the TÜV evaluation, electric cars achieve an average score during the first general inspection (after about two to three years). Their high weight puts a strain on the chassis components, and the brakes also cause problems. The biggest risk factor is the deterioration of battery performance over the years.