and for people to always check their mirrors before switching lanes.
Oh, I wish.
I don’t think your expectation of adapted behaviour is correct on a societal level, and given how many deaths could’ve prevented by a speed limit… people drastically overestimate their abilities and underestimate the speed and force of impact all the time. If the road is going slow right now or someone missed their exit people will still drive like maniacs. Not to mention that there’s also other good reasons for a speed limit, environmental and economical (with ICE cars you don’t immediately feel how much more you’re paying in money and convenience/time, but EVs will tell you that immediately = more CO², more costs individually and for society, less sane car purchases).
I don’t think strict TÜV, training etc. is connected to a lack of speed limit either. It’s more of a cultural thing in society, and of course to politics and how well people are off.
I get your opinion about preserving existing freedoms. It’s always a balance, however in this case I think this personal freedom to go fast is in no relation to other people’s right to save travel, and future generations’ right of well-being.
The emissions part I’ll have to agree on, but safety? Germany is literally among the safest nations to drive in. There’s not much lower you can go.
As ICE vehicles get phased out, people will naturally start driving fast less often. EVs force you to stop for much longer when you run out of charge. Driving 2x as fast means making 4x as many stops and the stops aren’t 3 minutes with an EV.
The emissions part I’ll have to agree on, but safety? Germany is literally among the safest nations to drive in. There’s not much lower you can go.
Always room for improvement, especially if there’s such an unnecessary reason it’s “only” 16th place.
Regarding EVs: You didn’t really acknowledged the economics arguments but simply assume that ICEs will be faced out. Which might still be true even in the worst of all economical situations, however my argument also entailed that people want to buy EVs. Giving ICEs and EVs equal footing in a “free” market is a good thing unless you want offset not doing so with a heavy hand with more regulations. One way or another we need this change asap, so a regulation that’s literally everywhere but here, has support from a majority of people and benefits every cause there is makes the most sense if you ask me.
“Top 10 in road safety” also has a nice ring to it.
EVs have to be legislated into being the only choice anyway. There’s no way around it, they’re unfortunately inferior for a lot of people’s use cases still. We’ve grown accustomed to the energy density of fossil fuels and being able to keep cars running out of warranty. A quick look at the replacement battery cost of an original Audi E-Tron will reveal that at this point, EVs are expensive paper weights once out of warranty.
Those problems are being fixed with newer vehicle designs though. The charging speed (the 800V systems seem to reach sub 20 minutes consistently by now), range (450+ km appear to become normal, the more fancy ones even got over 650km) and economics (battery packs become repairable and way more affordable even for a full replacement, especially given the savings in other expenses compared to ICE) seem to check out. The main problems are infrastructure, lack of affordable second-hand options… and honestly that stupid idea that cars should be our primary mode of transportation. Damn, we even got viable alternatives to lithium-ion batteries by now, that technology didn’t properly evolve for half a century or sth.
The data on battery longevity is also promising, they stay at usable capacities way longer than expected. Those first generation EVs just age really poorly given they’re, well… first generation. The technology is developing at breakneck speeds for the last decade.
On a sidenote, don’t let anyone tell you european EVs are somehow worse than chinese (they are not). They’re just more expensive due to a fortunate lack of slavery, and generally higher standards of everything in the production chain compared to China.
On a sidenote, don’t let anyone tell you european EVs are somehow worse than chinese (they are not). They’re just more expensive due to a fortunate lack of slavery, and generally higher standards of everything in the production chain compared to China.
You forget the lovely government subsidies of key industries in China, they subsidize goods for EXPORT. It’s why BYD can sell such high quality cars at such low prices.
I’m still rooting for European EVs, but ffs, Mercedes has completely ruined their exterior designs (interior is subjective - personally I don’t like so much screen real estate in a car interior, but other than that they still look nice inside), same for BMW. Audi has apparently somehow stayed just as unreliable with their EVs as their ICEs were. Volvo has the EX90 (bigger than I need and quite expensive) and the EX40 and 30 (both too small), but I did just learn that they’re going to start making an ES90, which is more my size. I’d prefer a wagon of course, we’ll see if they make an EV90 soon, but for now the ES90 is something to consider.
Edit: As much as I hate the front fascia, the i4 might be the car I should be looking at. I prefer lightly used to brand new and their prices are at a nice level now. Equipment is nice too.
Oh, I wish. I don’t think your expectation of adapted behaviour is correct on a societal level, and given how many deaths could’ve prevented by a speed limit… people drastically overestimate their abilities and underestimate the speed and force of impact all the time. If the road is going slow right now or someone missed their exit people will still drive like maniacs. Not to mention that there’s also other good reasons for a speed limit, environmental and economical (with ICE cars you don’t immediately feel how much more you’re paying in money and convenience/time, but EVs will tell you that immediately = more CO², more costs individually and for society, less sane car purchases).
I don’t think strict TÜV, training etc. is connected to a lack of speed limit either. It’s more of a cultural thing in society, and of course to politics and how well people are off.
I get your opinion about preserving existing freedoms. It’s always a balance, however in this case I think this personal freedom to go fast is in no relation to other people’s right to save travel, and future generations’ right of well-being.
The emissions part I’ll have to agree on, but safety? Germany is literally among the safest nations to drive in. There’s not much lower you can go.
As ICE vehicles get phased out, people will naturally start driving fast less often. EVs force you to stop for much longer when you run out of charge. Driving 2x as fast means making 4x as many stops and the stops aren’t 3 minutes with an EV.
Always room for improvement, especially if there’s such an unnecessary reason it’s “only” 16th place. Regarding EVs: You didn’t really acknowledged the economics arguments but simply assume that ICEs will be faced out. Which might still be true even in the worst of all economical situations, however my argument also entailed that people want to buy EVs. Giving ICEs and EVs equal footing in a “free” market is a good thing unless you want offset not doing so with a heavy hand with more regulations. One way or another we need this change asap, so a regulation that’s literally everywhere but here, has support from a majority of people and benefits every cause there is makes the most sense if you ask me.
“Top 10 in road safety” also has a nice ring to it.
EVs have to be legislated into being the only choice anyway. There’s no way around it, they’re unfortunately inferior for a lot of people’s use cases still. We’ve grown accustomed to the energy density of fossil fuels and being able to keep cars running out of warranty. A quick look at the replacement battery cost of an original Audi E-Tron will reveal that at this point, EVs are expensive paper weights once out of warranty.
Those problems are being fixed with newer vehicle designs though. The charging speed (the 800V systems seem to reach sub 20 minutes consistently by now), range (450+ km appear to become normal, the more fancy ones even got over 650km) and economics (battery packs become repairable and way more affordable even for a full replacement, especially given the savings in other expenses compared to ICE) seem to check out. The main problems are infrastructure, lack of affordable second-hand options… and honestly that stupid idea that cars should be our primary mode of transportation. Damn, we even got viable alternatives to lithium-ion batteries by now, that technology didn’t properly evolve for half a century or sth.
The data on battery longevity is also promising, they stay at usable capacities way longer than expected. Those first generation EVs just age really poorly given they’re, well… first generation. The technology is developing at breakneck speeds for the last decade.
On a sidenote, don’t let anyone tell you european EVs are somehow worse than chinese (they are not). They’re just more expensive due to a fortunate lack of slavery, and generally higher standards of everything in the production chain compared to China.
You forget the lovely government subsidies of key industries in China, they subsidize goods for EXPORT. It’s why BYD can sell such high quality cars at such low prices.
I’m still rooting for European EVs, but ffs, Mercedes has completely ruined their exterior designs (interior is subjective - personally I don’t like so much screen real estate in a car interior, but other than that they still look nice inside), same for BMW. Audi has apparently somehow stayed just as unreliable with their EVs as their ICEs were. Volvo has the EX90 (bigger than I need and quite expensive) and the EX40 and 30 (both too small), but I did just learn that they’re going to start making an ES90, which is more my size. I’d prefer a wagon of course, we’ll see if they make an EV90 soon, but for now the ES90 is something to consider.
Edit: As much as I hate the front fascia, the i4 might be the car I should be looking at. I prefer lightly used to brand new and their prices are at a nice level now. Equipment is nice too.