Why did I go electric ?

Why would you start driving an electrical vehicle (EV) and why did I? I am not sure if this is general relevant for everyone but maybe it helps to get your head around this question, and in getting a point of view for a discussion that creates so many emotions.

My personal observation when it comes to future mobility?

Some general things to say first. I guess by now most of us have understood that something needs to change in the way we live and eat up our planet if we like it or not. But how can this change happen and happen quickly as it is already about 5 past twelve… !!!

I truly wish that we as a society would be able to save the world by simply changing our personal behavior and that we would be willing to change our entire economic system. BUT… especially today we do see how difficult it is for all of us to change our behavior for a longer period of time, even if it endangers our own or the health of others…. so, in best case if the change really happens it will take a lot of time. Time that we don’t have if we want to be enkelf?hig, which means that we live in a way that our grandchildren (Enkel) will also have a good, safe and worthwhile live, or in other words create value for generations and creating a future worth living in.

Therefore, I do believe that we need to have a mix of measures to make a difference, changing our behavior, step by step changing our economic system but while doing that also developing technology that helps us on the way, buying us time for that change to happen.

This might also help us to better reach people at their personal state of mind, making the change as easy as possible for them… I know what you are about to say “change is not comfortable” and “the magic happens outside of your comfort zone” and you are probably right. But come on! Don’t we all hope the nasty things just disappear without us needing to change our behavior. It might be naive but there is actually nothing wrong in hoping for that to happen…

So in my point, and please keep in mind that I am an engineer and work as a manager in a for profit company, we need to focus on four major things to speed up change:

1)     Change needs to be sexy when possible

This is what Elon Musk in my point of view really understands. While driving a full electric or hybrid vehicle so far was something for real believers – or would you really, I mean would you really really want to drive a Prius? Probably not. Musk started to build electric cars that you really want drive or even want to possess, maybe even as a symbol of status or your state of mind. Even petrol heads get a smile on their face when they kick off in ludicrous mode and push the boundaries of their facial muscles to the absolute limit… not happening in a Prius.

2)     Doing sustainable business must become cost effective

Today when you create a product or generally build something you will always look for the most cost-effective solution that fixes your problem. This is generally a good thing to do, keeping your money together. However, the most cost-effective solution to most problems is usually not the most sustainable solution. We need to change this; we need to make the sustainable solution the most cost effective or in other words we need to make the none sustainable solutions the most expensive solutions by far. And we already try, e.g., with CO2 pricing, but we need to speed this up. I never thought that I would say that but maybe 5€ per liter standard gasoline is not such a bad idea in the end, if you have other alternatives such as affordable EVs or less expensive efuels.

3)     We need to get used to a mix of energy sources

We are all used to have primarily one mobility concept, which is using oil-based energy sources burned in combustion engines for getting from A to B… at least if you are not super fit and take the bike wherever you go, even on a trip to Norway. But maybe this becomes a little outdated with the growing demand of the people on this planet. While electricity could be a good match for personal mobility due to the relative ease of distribution and the relatively good degree of efficiency in energy conversion (e.g., sun or wind to electricity) it might not be such a good energy source for flying planes or running container ships, even not in the long run. So, there might be different energy sources for different tasks in our future mobility, even though they will most likely all be generated with electricity to some extent.

4)     We must create demand

Looking at the mix of energy sources it is clear that we mustn’t wait for the one solution solving our mobility problems, It would be fatal if we would. Only if we create demand for new mobility concepts we will create investments that are needed to build the infrastructure and to make these technologies affordable so that they spread and become a common thing in our daily life, becoming the “new normal”, making it more comfortable to use them. In the example of EVs these are loading station networks, new battery technologies that promise a longer range, quicker charging and recyclability. So, if you can! Try it, create demand, make people invest and earn a living, it does not matter if it is hydrogen, efuels or EVs. It will all quickly be better than sticking to fossil energy sources.

 Why would I consider an EV anyway?

So, coming back to the main topic. I am sorry for taking that long getting into it, but some of the preliminary thoughts were going through my mind before I could make a final decision myself.

More or less, you can read the “why” for me going electric in the first part of this article, but there is also some more personal issues that I went through: Can I continue my way of living as it was before, even going on vacation taking the car? How do I charge the batteries in my daily life? Could I do that as easy as filling up a patrol car? Would my employer support me in getting an EV (my old employer did not)?...

So here are the decision points that made the decision quite obvious for me in the end:

1. I wanted to try an EV, because I believe we need the change and we need it quickly, so I must change as well.
2. I wanted to understand how an EV changes my behavior and at the same time what it needs in changing my behavior to make it happen.
3. I wanted to take advantage of my employer’s (Haniel) engagement allowing only EVs or hybrids as company cars, but also providing free of charge charging stations at work. And as I do not like the concept of hybrids, I did get the first but certainly not the last EV in the company :)
4. I decided to install a charging station at home, so that I could have access to power whenever I am at home. Necessary to say that I am blessed having a home where I can just do it and where I already installed a photovoltaic (PV) system producing my own electricity.
5. I also decided to get a green energy contract so that my EV would truly have a better sustainability balance than my former patrol car over its lifecycle, also when the sun is not shining.
6. I decided, and that is probably the one real flaw in my concept, that I want a family sized but also “sexy” car, meaning it is far away from a Prius and I could have done a more sustainable choice… but on the other hand I love it and smile every time I leave the house (bear in mind I am a mechanical engineer :)
7. I never wanted to take the tax advantages given by the government for driving an EV as savings, I used them to get the car I wanted (making the change easier for me), for getting the infrastructure I needed and for situations where an EV could probably not do the trick, e.g., if I need a rental car due to difficult charging possibilities (e.g., long drive to a meeting with no supercharger on the way home)

These were my personal decision points and I guess it is a personal thing to go through them and dependent on the personal situation that you are in. But I do believe in a lot of lives it is doable without too many sacrifices.

 It is not as hard as losing weight – if the circumstances are right

Actually, nowadays there is not a lot to take into account when you buy or lease an electric vehicle. Honestly when you decide to lose weight or to have a healthier life the change in behavior is way bigger than driving an EV.

When you want to lose weight or reduce your alcohol consumption it does feel good at some point, but common be honest, you are missing a lot of fun on the way. Driving an EV gives you the chance to reduce on your “CO2 consumption” while still having all the fun – remember the ludicrous mode.

But that is easy to say if you had such good circumstances as I did.

So, what could have killed it for me:

• if I would not have had the chance to charge my car neither at work nor at home or at least at a place in walkable distance, I wouldn’t have chosen an EV. If charging is a constant struggle and will always be on your mind than it’ll ruin it for you. However, where I live in a small town in western Germany, we already have 10 charging stations in walkable distance so enough to go for it in my point of view.
• if battery range would have been below or around 200km with one charge. With a distance of around 50km to work and using the EV for business trips (company car) this would have created too much insecurity for me. However, this relates to my personal situation.
• if my wife would have made the final decision :) then it would have been a hybrid, because she was feeling insecure with charging infrastructure, the limited range and long charging times and I guess this is very representative for a lot of people and I definitely don’t blame my wife… I would never blame her :)
• if it would be clearly and fact based negative for climate, nature and people. I am aware about the problems that current battery technologies pose, but I am also convinced that there is light at the end of the tunnel and that we will soon have better solutions.

But in the end, there are not a lot but pretty good arguments against driving a full electric car, and they do guide the way to what needs to happen next to make EVs a real solution for many people. Fortunately, companies and researchers already work on solving the related issues.

 EV will become a success story – because we will solve the issues

When I read about what researchers are already working on I am confident that my choice was right and investing in my own charging station was a good thing to do. Just imagine when batteries will last for 1.000km+ I will no longer need to visit a gas station at all – but is this realistic?

NIO, a Chinese EV manufacturer announced a solid state batterie that shall last for 1.000km per charge in their ES8 sedan already for 2022. QuantumScape, a startup in the valley and others are also working on such batterie types, which should also take a charge as quickly as in stunning 15 minutes, so not much longer than fueling a patrol car.

Charging infrastructure does grow. We are now at approx. 22.000 charging facilities in Germany, I guess around a third of the number of available fuel pumps (14.000 gas stations). The beauty is that EV chargers can be set up literally everywhere and I assume that their number will grow fast.

You need to make some choices, but I am happy with mine

So here we are, now you know why I am happy with going electric and what choices I made. As soon as it makes sense I will also change my wife’s car to an electrical one (she doesn’t know yet so don’t tell her), because her “EV-profile” is even better than mine.

Before I let you go some last tips:

• check the dates if you want to apply for subsidies. I applied to late because my eBox was part of our doorbell and letter box combination. I should have applied before I bought it because the subsidies shall create an impulse to buy… but I already bought it, so no impulse needed anymore I guess… a costly learning of German bureaucracy :)
• read about the models that are about to come and time your move accordingly. The number of available EVs is growing fast from 2021 on and prices are going down so that even family sized cars become affordable.
• Check out your local subsidies not only for buying an EV but also for infrastructure like charging devices as well as the work around it.
• when you build or change something in or outside your house or flat think about cabling for three-phase power supply close to your car. You might not need it straight away but might help you in the future.

Well, that is it. I am done. I hope you liked reading and maybe it helps you making up your thoughts.

If you like comment on what I wrote. I would really like to see how your journey looks like or which thoughts are going through your mind when it comes to full electric or hybrids. What did I probably miss and what did you like?

Or tell me what in your point of view is the next breakthrough technology making this change easier?

What are the new, young companies building an enkelf?hig future?

Thanks Haniel for supporting me in getting the first company EV and for installing charging devices on every parking space in Duisburg. We really drive the change and become enkelf?hig.

Be bold! Drive the change and create a better future, a future worth living.

#futureworthliving #enkelf?hig #goelectric #drivethechange #Haniel