VW ID.3 [image credit: Alexander Migl @ Wikipedia]
Subsidies, wealthy buyers and niche markets only get EV makers so far, it seems. The old problems are still there – initial cost, range anxiety, slow charging, battery life etc. Moaning about humans supposedly having adverse effects on the weather turns out to be a weak selling point for the mass market.
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Volkswagen is cutting almost 300 roles at a factory in Germany as demand for electric cars dwindles, reports The Telegraph.
The redundancies are being carried out at the car giant’s plant in Zwickau, where a further 2,000 temporary workers are also at risk of losing their jobs.
Volkswagen’s Zwickau factory only produces electric vehicles, which have fallen in popularity due to high inflation and faltering government support. [Talkshop comment – is that crutch expected to go on forever?]
The job cuts, which were first reported by the German press agency DPA, come as the company prepares for an influx of cheaper electric cars from China.
While purchases of electric vehicles have been strong in the past few years, manufacturers fear customers are being increasingly put off because they are too expensive.
Figures show that battery-powered cars cost around £10,000 more than petrol-driven equivalents, while the price gap between electricity and petrol has also narrowed.
Drivers had previously been told that high upfront costs for electric cars could be recouped through cheaper charging.
However, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine led to a surge in electricity prices.
To combat the issue, UK carmakers have been lobbying for cheaper public charges for drivers who don’t have access to outlets at home.
Volkswagen, which was contacted for comment, previously cut electric car production at another of its biggest factories after waning interest led to lower sales than expected.
Full report here.
Tallbloke's Talkshop 
“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine led to a surge in electricity prices.”
Closing nuclear reactors had nothing to do with it 🙂
Gas prices, and consequently electricity prices, spiked some months before the invasion of Ukraine, as a consequence of lockdowns.
As for EVs, it’s clear to most people that they are no better in any way than ICE cars. But they cost more. It’s no more complex than that
Used electric car values have dropped like a stone in 2023: We reveal the biggest fallers this year – and the worst performing 20 are all EVs.
12 July 2023
The analysis is only inclusive of mainstream models – so no supercars, niche small-production vehicles or odd-ball motors.
https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/cars/article-12160659/Used-electric-cars-nosedived-value-2023.html
Then there’s the fearsome cost of a new battery as the range dwindles with age. No wonder leasing them is popular in the US, although a $7,500 tax credit (that runs out in 2032) for leased EVs helps.
Electric Vehicle Leasing Is The Cheapest Option For New Car Buyers Across America
https://www.forbes.com/sites/energyinnovation/2023/08/27/electric-vehicle-leasing-is-the-cheapest-option-for-new-car-buyers-across-america/
Demand for electric vehicles is running 30pc below the company’s forecasts.
Manfred Wulff, head of the Emden plant, said: “We are experiencing strong customer reluctance in the electric vehicle sector.”
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Fancy that 🙄
Three things hold back people from getting an EV.
1) Range per charge
2) Speed of charge
3) Cost
When an EV can travel the same distance as a FF car, with heater on if necessary, on a single charge as a tank of FF they might stare being interesting to normal people. The EVs also need to charge in a comparable time to filling the tank with petrol or diesel fuel. The range and charging time also needs to be for the life of the EV which should be similar to that of a FF car.
Since EVs will never meet those requirements they will never be popular and useful to most people.
Over almost seven decades of motoring on two, three and four wheels I have found a spare gallon of juice to have been a lifesaver, both for myself and other unfortunates I came across by the roadside.
Can I get a gallon of electrons to put in my boot?
[…] “Volkswagen cuts jobs as demand for EVs plunges” – EV sales are plummeting in Germany, with VW retrenching having gone all in on the useless carbuncles. […]
[…] “Volkswagen cuts jobs as demand for EVs plunges” – EV sales are plummeting in Germany, with VW retrenching having gone all in on the useless carbuncles. […]
Was it not worth mentioning that a major disincentive for buying a second hand EV is the likelyhood that the new owner will, shortly after taking possession, have to spend more than the car is worth on buying a replacement set of batteries. In turn the difficulty of selling them on makes dealers reluctant to take a used one in part exchange.
[reply] we did refer to ‘battery life’ 🙂
UK PM tries to force people into EVs – ‘strict timetable’…
Sunak to defy Tory net zero sceptics and bring in strict electric car targets
Sat, 16 September 2023
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/sunak-defy-tory-net-zero-110703673.html
Anti-net zero MP: ‘The beneficiaries will be Chinese carmakers’.