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Comment by j-pb | Hacker News Reader

Germany has build more PV capacity in the last three years than the total nuclear capacity it ever build, and the numbers are increasing thanks to regulatory cutbacks by the current government.

Meanwhile new nuclear reactors cost 4 times as much as renewables and take decades to build.

So stop spreading FUD.

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I don't disagree with your argument, but capacity is a useless measurement. Without considering the capacity factor you might as well be comparing apples to zebras.

What are the actual numbers? Is PV reliable as nuclear? As cheap as piped natural gas? Can VW build a profitable car and Bosch a washing machine at those rates (vs very strong competitors like South Korea)? Because that’s what keeps the German economy humming (and the EU together).

VW is using renewables for building it's EVs.

Best of luck to them, they're gonna need it.

What would it even take to change your mind lmao

Healthy numbers. If people aren’t buying VW vehicles because the prices are higher than Hyundai due to the energy situation, that’s not good.

Germany is deindustrializing as we speak (chemicals, auto and auto related, etc). Once you deindustrialize past a certain threshold, it’s very difficult to come back.

VW just claimed the top spot from Tesla for electric car sales in Germany:

https://www.dw.com/en/vw-electric-cars-tesla-germany/a-66468...

https://insideevs.com/news/681020/volkswagen-outsells-tesla-...

Hyundai is currently at sixth place behind VW, Tesla, MB, BMW and Audi:

https://insideevs.com/news/677504/germany-allelectric-car-sa...

In 2022 Tesla was at the top, VW second and Hyundai third, so Hyunday actually seems to be losing ground against other German car brands, at least in the EV market segment:

https://www.best-selling-cars.com/electric/2022-full-year-ge...

I think the announcement of the 'deindustrialization' of Germany might be a bit premature.

Those are domestic numbers, I'm talking about the competitiveness of Germany on the _international_ market - that's what matters. It's hard to be competitive when your energy costs are high.

Regarding deindustrialization:

- https://www.economist.com/business/2022/09/11/germany-faces-...

- https://www.lemonde.fr/en/economy/article/2023/01/06/transit...

- https://www.politico.eu/article/germany-industry-europe-ener...

- https://www.politico.eu/article/rust-belt-on-the-rhine-the-d...

- https://unherd.com/thepost/recession-in-germany-is-a-sign-of...

A lot of those articles talk about Russian gas - a perfect reason to go for renewables harder and spend more - it's an investment in the future.

And thats a good thing in Germany with is known for its sunny weather.

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