Tariffs on electric vehicles imported from China: new nonsense that consumers will end up paying

The great challenge that electric car It is its high price and limited autonomy that negate its appeal. It will come into force in a few days new nonsense of the European Commissionwho is obsessed with the idea of ​​everyone having an electric car, but at a luxury price where they are approved. new tariffs on the import of electric vehicles from China.

It is true that European automakers are at a crossroads in the transition to a green economy, since on the one hand the demand for electric vehicles, despite assistance, is not growing as expected, and on the other hand their main competitive advantage is revealed. in vehicles with internal combustion engines. So when they try to compete with Chinese electric cars, production costs and, again, stringent regulation in Europe put them at a distinct disadvantage.

To level the playing field, tariffs are increasing, potentially reaching 50%, but trade wars will lead to retaliation from China and will ultimately harm the consumer., and not to those politicians who are out of touch with the reality of citizens. It seems ironic that the energy transition promises to save our future while simultaneously emptying our pockets as we pay more for the brilliance of new without being superior in efficiency and reliability to traditional.

A big barrier for those looking for a new car is autonomy. We’ve all been affected by cell phone battery wear and the anxiety it causes for some people. At first it works at full capacity, but over time it stops working all day without recharging, the aging battery requires more frequent recharging and its autonomy decreases. This is a surefire sign that it’s time for you to buy a new one. The same thing happens with an electric car, the only difference being that its price is 100 times higher than the cost of a mobile phone.

In the race for the electric car China is overtaking us on the left and Europe, the only thing he knows how to do is put up obstacles with a broom, not realizing that it is the Europeans who are actually stumbling, who, instead of taking advantage of globalization, must pay prices unattainable for the middle class. And then some wonder why Tesla sales fell by 50% in Germany, and sales of all electric vehicles by 30%.

Collateral damage

The most likely result is that Demand continues to fall until the price drops., unless it is absorbed by Chinese brands. It will also have an impact on inflation, which is unchecked and these vehicles are priced higher than combustion vehicles, so tariffs will benefit European industry in the short term but will shift purchasing towards combustion. It’s like raising the price of a train when it’s cheaper to fly.

This measure could work if we Europeans explicitly changed our preferences for electricity, but what we are looking for is mobility and a lack of energy stress associated with having to recharge once or twice per trip, with long queues at power plants and the risk that the charger will not work. Just think about what happens to most of us when we are away from home or office and the mobile phone tells you that it has 3% left and you don’t have a charger or a place to plug it in.

In addition, a new generation of batteries will begin to enter the market in the next five years, which may range up to 1200 kilometers, with a recharge time of less than ten minutes, delaying families’ purchasing decisions. Battery technology is therefore one of the keys to replacing internal combustion engine vehicles.

But price is also a brake, since the European consumer, and we’re not even talking about Spanish, finds a significant barrier in the high price, logical in relation to salarieswhich any electric car compares to its internal combustion equivalent, despite government assistance. The average age of vehicles circulating in our country is over 14 years, compared to 8 years in Luxembourg or 17 years in Greece. These data show that we Spaniards can’t afford to change our car every 10 years like the Germans, and it’s not because we love the car.

This measure does not make sense if you really want to promote the use of electric vehicles, as it would stop their use, unless the goal is to impoverish citizens, make it more difficult to use private cars, which is already happening in ZBE, or both.