Because of the German government's climate targets, traffic in Germany must be significantly reduced in the coming years. Transport Minister Scheuer therefore wants a railway reform that puts climate protection first. This is urgently needed. More digitalisation and modern infrastructure are to contribute to the turnaround.
From 2035, there are to be no more new cars with combustion engines in the EU. In addition, CO2 emissions from transport are to be reduced by 55 percent below today's level by 2030. But many EU countries are lagging miles behind in terms of electrification. The goal seems utopian.
Just like many other countries, the UK government has now timed the end of internal combustion vehicles. While the phase-out date for passenger cars was already fixed at 2030, a date has now also been set for medium and heavy-duty trucks. The industry is worried.
Subsidies on purchase, cheap electricity and no petrol tax: driving an e-car is cheap. This is what politicians generally want in order to promote the switch to electric vehicles. But the state loses a lot of money every year due to the lack of petrol tax. In the USA, e-car drivers are now being asked to pay.
The first big car companies have given concrete dates for the phase-out of the internal combustion engine. So things are getting serious for diesel and petrol engines. But the dealers are keeping a few loopholes open and are also demanding more help from politicians. But even if there are no more new combustion engines, the existing ones will not disappear so easily.
The car industry is desperately looking for solutions for the range and fast charging of e-cars. A start-up is working on a fuel cell powered by methanol - and has solved the problems of range and charging processes. Is methanol a tinkerer's folly or the fuel of the future?
The major truck manufacturers have joined forces to build a comprehensive charging network for trucks in Europe. Since politicians are only making very slow progress with improving the infrastructure, they are now taking the challenge into their own hands. This is urgently needed, because soon there will be no more trucks with combustion engines in some environmental zones.
Environmental stickers must be affixed to the car so that they are clearly visible. But where exactly do the different stickers have to be affixed? Just as the rules for environmental zones differ from country to country, so do the ways in which the stickers must be affixed to the car.
E-cars are said to emit significantly more CO2 than thought. According to new estimates, they would be even more harmful to the climate than diesel and petrol vehicles. Experts are already talking about electric gate.
Only one in two e-car drivers would recommend their vehicle to others. Only Tesla customers are really satisfied with their vehicle. The other manufacturers are still struggling, especially with the charging structure. No wonder, then, that the e-car is only slowly gaining acceptance in Germany.
