In my experience, the people who holds that view are also the people who are not going to buy a car anyway.
Once they do need a new car, they will try an electric and then they'll change their mind.
this post was submitted on 28 Jan 2026
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What ? Emotional connection to a car ? They are describing a phsycological problem.
It's not just noise, and not just cars.
The sound of "fast" for me is a liquid cooled two stroke motorcycle engine. Imprinted on them in my teens. And the smell of "fast" is burned fully synthetic two stroke oil. It's been thirty years and I still get a positive emotional reaction to hearing and smelling a "modern" two stroke engine running.
These days I drive a "boring" emissions compliant diesel (not a VW ๐) and ride a four stroke. But I deeply understand the emotional connection people have to the sensory experience of their vehicles. For me it's freedom, excitement, speed, challenge.
I think this article should be assumed more at the lobby of the combustion car industry with their conservative stubbornness and less against the individual Germans.
Germany is the European country with the highest percentage of people who rent homes instead of owning them.
Which automatically means we're dependent on public charging infrastructure for our cars, which is woefully underdeveloped.
I would love to buy an electric car but it just doesn't make any sense. There's your real reason, dear French newspaper.
I agree that it is much better and more convenient to be able to charge your car at home with your own wallbox.
However, I do not believe that the current availability of charging stations in Germany is the main problem. There are many places where you can charge your car apart from petrol stations: supermarkets, hardware stores, restaurants, parking garages, at work. Yes, it takes a bit of time to get used to it, but it's not really a problem in most places in Germany.
Source: owner of an electric car who rents a flat in Germany
petrol stations [...] hardware stores, restaurants
None in my area have chargers. Some farther away do, but only up to 22kW, see below.
Supermarkets
They've got some chargers, but only up to 22kW, only while you're shopping. I can't shop groceries for multiple hours while my car charges.
parking garages
None nearby except the one at the supermarket. See above.
at work
My employer declined to buy into the chargers the industrial park put up, so I am not allowed to use them.
I frequently drive 150+ km a day for my job, so I'd need to be able to fully charge up two or three times a week depending on the car model, battery size and season. I either need slow charging in walking distance to my home or public fast chargers, otherwise it's a non starter.
Well, it is a huge problem for me. Home office, so no charging at workplace. And the only charging stations around where I live (eastern part of Berlin) are slooooow charging stations, meaning I would have to plan for a 6-hour visit to the supermarket.
Quick charge stations are few and far between, and in use most of the time.
That doesn't just take a bit of time getting used to, it's simply not feasible.
On the charging map, I can see more than a dozen available fast charging stations (>=150 kW) in East Berlin. But I don't know your exact situation and I believe you when you say it just doesn't make sense for you.
From my experience, I can only say that I have never been in a situation where there was no fast charging option within 10 km when I needed it. I have also never encountered a situation where all the spaces at a charging station were occupied.
Some people just wants the familiar because we still have simplistic lizard brain. This even goes with manual and automatic cars, there are people who dismiss automatic cars and look down on its drivers. But the same people quickly change their minds once they drive automatic.
Emotional support compensators which drink artisanal spirits.
BS, the vast majority of German drivers are frugal about spending money for fuel and prefer efficiency over power. There will always be the minority gearheads who will scream the loudest.
No offence intended but Duh. People who are passionate about something dont want it banned. I'm one of those people and yes we will push back because we all know most of the worlds polution is caused by big buisness and industry. When people talk about banning ALL combustion engines it reads to me like "recycling will save the environment"
Most of the worlds driving population doesnt give a fuck about driving enjoyment or feel any real passion for driving or cars. The enthusiasts and enthusiast cars arent the lions share of the problem. If the electric grocery getters were significantly cheaper the vast majority of people will adopt them. Id gladly only take my petrol engine out for special occasions if I could also afford an EV to get stuck in traffic in.
most of the worlds polution is caused by big buisness and industry.
There is definitely truth in this. But I also think it's a dangerous attitude to perpetuate. Because blaming the majority offender can counterintuitively lead to an endless loop of passing responsibility along. Case in point when some people in relatively smaller countries argue that its not their responsibility to cut emissions because countries like China and India are the majority polluters. China and India can then point to developed countries having made more cumulative emissions over time. Eventually someone has to take a stand and make a change, even if the main impact is to initiate a cultural shift.
Oh agreed, just pointing out that when you throw around the idea of outright bans of course the people who are passionate will hate it, dig their heels in and call bullshit.
Governments need to leave the door open for the small number of petrolheads who are prepared to pay a premium to continue doing what they LOVE and use that premium to make EVs more practical and affordable for the vast majority of people who "Just need something to get me from A to B" to the point where even the diehards will say "It just doesnt make sense to drive this thing every day, Ill get an EV for a daily driver"
As a German, many of my countrymen and -women are rather embarassing.
On this front, Italians do not behave differently.
Germany has done a lot of good with green energy too, so it's not all bad
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I doubt this is a majority speaking. A few people may be petrol heads and love the roaring sound of a v engine (or an underpowered r4 with a loud exhaust). Most Germans drive standard cars, where the manufacturer is trying to make the engine as writer and smooth as possible. Their real fear is that their electric car won't take them the 1500km to their holiday destination, without any stops, with a caravan in tow, which they will do once per year.
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Many Germans - dozens even! I mean, you will always have internal combustion enthusiasts and that is ok - they should be free to practice their hobby so long as they don't bother others too much. But I imagine they would daily drive an ev on most days if they found it more convenient and drive their hobby cars on special occasions.
At one point I will buy a used El Camino (the.most.useless.pickup), tinker with it, hopefully with my son (now 3 yo) put in a 400hp Chevrolet LS engine and never drive it unless it's sunny.
For my daily use I seldom travel over 15 km. and currently use a petrol mini One and have Mazda6 estate for family travel (the amount of bulky stash traveling with a small child necessitates is mind-numbing)
An EV estate/ would cover both uses, so I totally agree with you
So fucking much this.
I think the world needs a version of the Japanese Kei car rules. You build a pure EV with a range of at least X, a maximum power of Y with a small footprint and we will make them intensely cheap to tax and insure. The market will sort itself out.
It's not "emotionally hard to accept" it's financially hard to purchase.
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We move through life facing events that are emotionally hard to accept. It's built in like that.
Muh big machine vroom vroom. Some people are so dumb ๐คฆ๐ป
German newspaper: french eat frog.
BEV sales in France are 20% of cars sold and in Germany it is 19.1% in 2025. So it is pretty similar, but Germany has had much faster growth recently, so it is very possible that this is going to change this year.
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