When you ask Chinese people why they drive an electric car, the most common answer is probably the price. When you ask Europeans why they don’t drive electric cars, the most common answer is probably the price. This seemingly paradoxical situation will not change any time soon. In China, electric cars are much cheaper, and in the West they are much more expensive than combustion cars. The same electric model sometimes costs twice or three times as much in Europe. If you order a taxi in Shanghai, you will be surprised to find that it is still a combustion engine. In Germany, electric cars are also met with emotional rejection. Seen from China, German debates about electric cars often seem simply strange. On average, every second new car in China is now an electric car or plug-in hybrid, and in many large cities on the east coast the proportion is significantly higher. In Germany it is currently falling, but in the EU and North America it is barely moving. Structural and cultural reasons cause the dichotomy. This dichotomy of the automotive world has structural and cultural reasons. There is the chronic infrastructure weakness of many Western countries that fail to provide a good charging network. In China, where the power grid is still geared towards expansion and the Communist Party has far greater scope for intervention, this works much better. The energy costs are low, and the short journeys in China’s densely populated cities are more suitable for battery-powered cars. The electric car also has strategic advantages for China’s government: it is built in its own industry, which creates jobs and makes the population proud. At the same time, the industry is improving China’s reputation with regard to technology and climate protection, it is reducing its dependence on foreign knowledge and oil imports. None of these points apply to Germany and the EU in electromobility, at least not to the same extent. Europe is more likely to lose jobs while its dependence increases because China is a leader in battery technology and Europe lacks raw materials. The EU therefore has less interest in rapid transformation. There are also major cultural differences. Everyday life in China is more digital and car buyers are younger. Chinese consumers are demanding digital features in their cars that many Western customers consider to be silly gimmicks. In contrast, the demands on driving behavior and longevity are higher in the West. The cultural roots that the combustion engine has in Germany also do not exist in China. The climate policy quarrel with individual mobility is also practically non-existent. German companies are hit hardest. For Germany’s car companies, this dichotomy is ungrateful. If the transformation to electric cars in the EU simply came a few years later than in China, companies could concentrate fully on the new technology. Instead, the persistence and hurdles are great in this country. The end of combustion engines in the EU in 2035 is shaky, making long-term planning for companies more difficult. The tariffs also raise new barriers. The result: The industry has to accelerate and slow down the transformation at the same time.More on the topicGerman manufacturers are hit hardest by this dichotomy. Since they were and are much more successful in China than French, Japanese and American manufacturers, they have much more to lose. Unlike other international corporations, they accept competition instead of de facto giving up on China. Their market shares are falling less quickly. To put it bluntly, the strategy goes in the direction of creating two companies in one: a fast electrical company in China, a slower one in the West. It’s the only chance. Developers and managers in Wolfsburg, Stuttgart and Munich, who are exposed to struggles with e-mobility in their everyday lives, will not be able to keep up with the competition in Hefei, Shanghai or Shenzhen. This is a short-term disadvantage for German companies because there is a lot It is more expensive to transform at two speeds at the same time, and because the billions in profits from China will no longer be available. In the long term, it can be an advantage to be represented in both car worlds. You learn in China for the rest of the world. For geopolitical and cultural reasons, it is unclear whether Chinese manufacturers will gain a foothold in the West. So far they are not glossing themselves over their efforts in Europe. Under certain circumstances, German manufacturers don’t even have to build the best electric cars. Perhaps in many countries it is enough to offer the best non-Chinese ones.
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