<
https://thedriven.io/2024/10/18/daimler-calls-for-annual-petrol-price-hike-from-now-until-eternity-to-support-ev-switch/>
"Germany is debating a range of ideas to boost sales of electric vehicles (EV)
and support the transition of one of the country’s most important industries.
The automotive industry is facing ongoing difficulties, partly caused by
lower-than-expected sales of EVs. Among the suggestions put forward to reverse
the sales slump was Daimler manager Martin Daum’s call for a surcharge of 10
cents per litre of petrol to incentivise a shift to electrically powered cars.
“If we go ahead and say that 10 cents per litre of petrol will be added every 1
January, from now until eternity, this will remain within the regular
oscillations of the fuel price within the first three or four years” and lead
to the desired effects in a relatively short time, Daum said in an interview
with public broadcaster
SWR.
“At some point, this will bite you so much that you’ll never think of buying a
combustion engine car again and directly go for an EV instead,” the manager
argued.
Daum said raising the price of fuel would be a very simple way of reducing
carbon emissions – but claimed no policymaker dared to suggest it “because a
majority of citizens probably will not accept it”.
He added that a new buyer’s premium is not currently a solution to the problem.
“This only makes sense in the very early stages, when it’s about testing new
technologic ideas and customers run a risk and don’t know if it will work,” he
said. EVs clearly had left this stage, Daum added.
Meanwhile, an analysis by research organisation International Council on Clean
Transportation (ICCT) found that introducing a “voluntary scrappage scheme”
(Abwrackprämie) for old combustion engine cars could help spur EV sales and
slash emissions.
Paying car owners a subsidy when switching engines would be a cost-effective
option that also maximises societal health benefits through reduced air
pollution, the ICCT said. The analysis focused on a scrappage scheme for diesel
cars that are between 15 and 25 years old and for which owners should receive
80 percent of the car’s residual value.
The scheme would make the clean-up of Germany’s vast combustion engine car
fleet much cheaper than using e-fuels: “E-fuel production costs are price
prohibitive and importing them from other regions outside of Germany would,
even in 2030, likely be up to three times more expensive than a voluntary
scrappage scheme,” said ICCT Europe director Peter Mock.
“Relying on e-fuels also moves us away from our goal of reducing air pollution
and safeguarding public health,” he added."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
