Apart from the political implications, it certainly doesn't help that European news are full of reports that Tesla cars place last in national reliability rankings for EVs.
https://www.carscoops.com/2024/11/tesla-model-3-comes-bottom...
https://www.carscoops.com/2024/11/tesla-model-3-comes-bottom...
https://ti-insight.com/briefs/have-internal-combustion-engin...
It's just that we don't see it in the geopolitical west, as it's all happening in China, which is currently by far the single largest passenger vehicle market in the world.
Personally I drive a hybrid because that was the most electrified car I could afford back in 2017.
In Denmark there has been a trial in Copenhagen, where fossil fueled cars AND hybrids were not allowed on a particular road, only EVs were allowed.
The reason is a combination of markedly higher CO2-equivalent emissions for manufacturing (two motors instead of one + big battery), increased weight for the same reason which causes an increase in fuel consumption + elevated tire/brakes degradation + decommissioning of the car causes more emissions. And this doesn't include the other negative externalities such as the ecological impact of the additional metal and rare earth extraction.
Hybrid cars only make sense from a CO2 perspective if you charge them and drive exclusively on electricity inside cities, with only an occasional fuel refill before long distance trips.
No, good hybrid drivetrains charge the battery during normal driving not just breaking. It saves gas by avoiding the least efficient RPM ranges of the engine.
~80%(battery & conversion losses) of 35% fuel efficiency easily beats 100% of 10% fuel efficiency. Using a 200HP engine to creep around a flat parking lot or run the AC while waiting etc is simply inherently inefficient so they turn the engine off. As a bonus you get that quick EV acceleration without an oversized engine that’s rarely operating efficiently.
As to emissions from car manufacturing, don’t ignore emissions from gasoline manufacturing. People get these comparisons wildly wrong by only looking at tailpipe emissions and ignoring upstream extraction, refining, and transportation emissions over the 25+ lifetime of an average car.
You might be simplifying a bit too much here. The most successful hybrid powertrains are built from the ground up as hybrids and the "hybridized" parts actually replace ICE parts that aren't needed anymore. For example, the HSD system in a Toyota hybrid replaces the clutch, gearbox, starter and alternator, and the result is much more robust.
Also the brakes on a hybrid usually degrade slower, because of recuperation.
For many people the local fiscal perspective outweighs the CO2 perspective. Hybrids are often financially speaking more interesting than thermal due to tax incentives.
They had a good time because they had this 'cool' image and had no real competition for a time, although their quality and realiability issues (in addition to American cars' reputation) were known.
But now you have alternatives both on price and quality as all the European and Japanese incombents have an EV lineup and Chinese are pushing hard. So they are becoming one brand among many in a cut-throat market and don't really shine in any aspect.
All of that is shocking to me - but I guess for a lot of people cars are appliances, no different than a fridge(but then again I do a lot of research before buying a fridge too, but maybe that's just me).
But back to my original point - those people I describe above, few years ago if they were dead set on buying a Volkswagen and also wanted an EV for whatever reason....there really wasn't anything to pick from, if the eUp/eGolf didn't work for them. So someone dead set on an EV would eventually gravitate towards Tesla because that's what was available. Now the same buyer walks into a VW dealership and walks out with keys to an ID.3/4/5/6, never even looking at Tesla and whether it's a better deal or not.
And the TÜV's HU is a very thorough checkup. Failing it is easily caused by neglecting regular maintenance or careless driving. If you absolutely need to pass your test, befriend your local DEKRA guy, let him have a short look, and get your HU done early.
To say nothing of the CEO.
It's as if all these news articles are useless...
Tesla sales down as new Model Y being released, big surprise
But the news article linked in the post is based on the official ranking of TÜV in Germany. TÜV does a thorough inspection of each car registered in Germany, every 24 months. Roughly 20% of the cars fail that test, and the ranking is simply based on these numbers. Corresponding agencies in other countries had very similar rankings.
What did they fail on is the next question? Brake discs not being used because regen is a thing it seems
> What did they fail on is the next question?
From the article:
> [...] primarily due to problems with its lights, brakes and suspension. The TÜV notes that the last two are often a problem with EVs due to their weight compared with equivalent combustion-powered cars and the fact that much of the braking force is generated through energy recuperation, meaning the brakes don’t get enough of a workout to keep them in good order. “The high mileage cannot disguise the poor performance of the Model 3,” said Joachim Bühler, Managing Director of the TÜV Association. “In addition to defects in the brakes and axles, the Tesla also has a particularly high number of lighting defects. This indicates deficiencies in service and maintenance.”
Stop spreading misinformation.
One obvious conclusion is that they are cheaply made but I wonder how much is the possibly sensible decision of owners of low cost cars to skip expensive regular maintenance and wait for something to fail a legally required test before getting it fixed?
Now that I think about it, I think the last time these stats were shared there was some chatter about these faults being caught and fixed by service mechanics before the test in other brands. Can't quite remember the mechanism by which such fixes wouldn't be counted in these stats though. Possibly just Tesla fan copium, there's a lot of that about.
In general the inspection is not even attempted if there is something to fix.
> In general the inspection is not even attempted if there is something to fix.
Where I live in Central/Western Europe the sheer number of cars which can't possibly drive in legal conditions (rolling chimney stack exhaust or stadium light headlights) astonishes me. They get the "all green" at the inspection regardless of what needs to be fixed.
I'm not talking (only) about after market modding, rolling coal, or xenon upgrades but about plain old unmaintained clunkers. This is deep in "bribery to pass the test" territory. and law enforcement isn't willing to do anything about it on the road even if spotting these cars is trivial. Look out for a smoke plume during the day, or for the rolling artificial sun at night.
And this is in the country which is the source of clunkers for everyone else, not the destination.
Typical faults that cause failure are; uneven brake force, badly aligned headlights, uneven tire wear, play and wear in suspension components, and so on.