Electric car instead of Saab? The result of the survey!

Everyone is talking about e-mobility. In advertising, in the car dealership and in the election campaign anyway. It feels like everyone in the neighborhood should have signed a contract for a new electric car. So the electric wave is running. But, is this really the truth? How big is the gap between reality and feeling? We asked the readers at the grassroots level.

Saab electric car

Admittedly, there has been an electric car in my neighborhood for many years. A second was now added, at least to judge by the E license plate. But it is not a “real” electric car. It is a subsidized plug-in hybrid from a German provider that was always charged on the wallbox, at least initially.

Meanwhile, the allure of the novelty has evaporated, the car is hardly attached to the plug. Purely fossil fuel is more convenient than purely electric. So much for reality. How does it look in the Saab world? Some electric car drivers are already among us, but how popular are electric cars really? The result of the survey surprised me.

Are you already driving purely electrically?

Slightly more than every 10th participant in the survey now drives an electric car. Feels like, and because of the emails that get here, that's a low percentage. I would have expected a higher proportion of purely electric first vehicles.

Do you already drive an electric car?

  • No (89% 284 Votes)
  • Ja (11% 34 Votes)

Total Voters: 318

Loading ... Loading ...

Do you still drive Saab?

Question number 2, which was actually only put to the electric car group, was not formulated perfectly by me. The question was answered too often to produce a usable result. If you like, you could at least deduce a certain tendency. Switching to an electric car does not necessarily mean saying goodbye to Saab.

Do you still drive Saab?

  • Yes, the Saab is allowed to stay! (86% 115 Votes)
  • The Saab stock has been reduced! (7% 10 Votes)
  • No, the Saab had to go! (7% 9 Votes)

Total Voters: 134

Loading ... Loading ...

Are you planning to switch to an electric car?

The big surprise was question number 3. The values ​​fluctuated in the course of the survey. Almost every fourth participant has not yet made a decision when it comes to electric cars, less than 4% are planning a change in the next 10 months. What is very surprising, however, is a large majority who are obviously not in the mood for purely electric driving.

Are you planning to switch to an electric car?

  • For me, an electric car is not an issue (70% 211 Votes)
  • I have not decided yet (23% 69 Votes)
  • Yes, within the next 3 months (4% 12 Votes)
  • Yes, within the next 6 months (4% 11 Votes)

Total Voters: 303

Loading ... Loading ...

Around 70% say no, regardless of the tempting subsidies in the background. Is that a Saab-specific thing, or does it reflect reality? Will the switch to purely electric driving be bypassed the majority of people despite enormous subsidies and media penetration?

Back to the origin of the discussion and the upcoming company car decision in my company. That doesn't affect me, the vehicles go to employees. Because it is clear to me that I will switch from a modern combustion engine to a Saab 9-5 OG in winter.

I think that's a sustainable solution.

Regardless of this, the discussion about future company cars in the company also takes a surprising turn. After the initial euphoria, based on the massive funding, subsided, disillusionment followed. The final decision is still pending, the result is open.

13 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline feedback
View all comments
Hans Bernd Pohl
Hans Bernd Pohl
2 years earlier

My son Daniel converted a Saab 900 to electric. The vehicle is TÜV approved. The acceleration of the vehicle is amazing.

Volvoab Driver
Volvoab Driver
2 years earlier

Very, very cool.

Please, please make a contribution. I am sure that Tom will be happy to publish this and that many will want to read and see (photos) ...

Hans Bernd Pohl
Hans Bernd Pohl
2 years earlier

My son Daniel has already converted a Saab 900 to an electric drive. It is a special experience to be on the road noiselessly with a Saab 900.

Volker
Volker
2 years earlier

By chance I read in the press that e-mobility has little to do with environmental protection.
171 scientists from various universities have written an open letter to the EU Commission. These scientists demand that the ecological footprint of e-mobility has to be recalculated.

https://www.tichyseinblick.de/wirtschaft/mobilitaet/rechenfehler-entlarvt-e-auto-ist-weniger-klimafreundlich-als-behauptet/

StF
StF
2 years earlier
Reply to  Volker

You can also read contrary opinions, maybe even from more researchers, just stretching the time was too good to write a letter. For example this:

https://teslamag.de/news/falsche-co2-werte-fuer-elektroautos-deutsche-studie-ist-laut-forscher-reine-desinformation-38329

And as always, when it comes to large sums of money, you can ask yourself who is good and then you have to answer it for yourself. Which should not be easy at all. But what is easy is the realization that life remains difficult.

Volvoab Driver
Volvoab Driver
2 years earlier
Reply to  Volker

Press?

Well, maybe you can call this publication that. But where is the news value?

We have all known for a long time and from reputable sources that the CO2 backpack of an EV is firstly larger than that of a comparable combustion engine and secondly, in the current electricity mix, it is difficult to use it to its advantage.

I would find a lively and realistic discussion about alternatives to both EV and mineral oil exciting. Why in the subjunctive?

Because such a discussion is neither journalistically nor politically led nor by the once loud and oh-so-powerful car lobby. This is astonishingly impotent in the question.

Listless? Why? The assumption is that the current architecture of the energy and transport transition is not at all inconvenient for the big brands and corporations.

After more than 100 years of the automotive industry, they are part of and beneficiaries of a project of the century with corresponding sales and profit prospects and products that are less topical. They have long wanted to do it themselves and think of the environment as much as they did 10, 20 or 30 years ago ...

ShoeMe
ShoeMe
2 years earlier

Hi all,

The following points speak for me personally - currently - against the use of an e-mobile:
- The driving profile (also mostly long haul and “only for the city” another mobile for 3 Saabs is a bit too much of a good thing)
- Charging options: I live in a large city in an apartment building. The TG is not equipped for this and will not be for the time being, nor will the parking spaces in the backyard
- Acquisition costs: subsidies or not, e-cars are not yet available for little money.
- Resale value: Since technical (further development) advances rapidly, it is difficult to foresee price stability.
- “As a matter of principle”: The discussion is far too one-sided for me. The focus is only on CO2 during driving, but no full cycle assessment is taken into account. In addition, the pan is too fast and too absolute for me. Exclusively E, mM is not the way into the future, but rather “Diversity & Inclusion” is also the key for drives and energy sources.

The subsidies are also a thorn in my side; admittedly, excellent lobbying work, that has to be recognized.

A little anecdote about company cars. In fact, company car recipients of a well-known pharmaceutical company based here were already advised when handing over the vehicle that when returning the vehicle, please put the charging cable back in the trunk - ideally unpacked. That says it all.

Just my cents 2

Christian Arndt
2 years earlier

In terms of work, I am no stranger to electromobility, which has been used successfully in series production for well over 100 years. This also applies to so-called “battery-electric” driving. In short: with battery-powered railcars, which were already on the Prussian railroad in 1913. That's why I'm very interested in all of this. The topic is currently getting new momentum, the batteries can also be charged via the overhead line on the railway. Something that was already prepared in the 80s, but then disappeared into the drawers.

I voted “no”. Why? Because my driving profile - I drive 90% long distances over 250 kilometers (one way), it doesn't fit.
Second reason: where should the electricity come from? If you look at the official data and do a little math, you wonder where this euphoric mood can have its origin. If we feed all electric cars with “green” electricity, it has to be deducted from the general electricity quota and we either need electricity imports or have to tap or start other electricity sources at short notice. That does not fit. Not yet.

From my point of view, the topic of synthetic fuels in its various forms would be the better way against the background of short-term necessary effects for environmental protection, the economic continued use of the existing vehicle fleet and opportunities for research and development. However, this is rejected. But that is - to put it with Fontane - a broad field.

Capri 73
Capri 73
2 years earlier

The last series 515 battery powered railcars were retired in 1995. These also came from the 50s and 60s. With over 200 vehicles they drove 15 million kilometers. The vehicles were quiet and very comfortable, but in winter they were heated with heating oil.
It was too expensive for the railway (state company) to develop something new! After all, citizens should operate and pay for environmental protection! The state-owned company DB purchased class 628 diesel multiple units instead.
The diesel railcars did not come close to the acceleration. The main thing is cheaper!
The DB also had the right infrastructure for charging and maintaining the battery-powered railcars.
Most citizens don't have it.

A battery powered railcar is still in the Bochum Dahlhausen Railway Museum today!

Freising86
Freising86
2 years earlier

Well I think the result is realistic. A surprising number of people completely reject an electric car, which always surprises me very much. 70% are already in there, also because many no longer dare to publicly express an opinion against the mainstream.

The culture of discussion in this country has generally (outside of the blog) become very intolerant. 🙁

Gosh
Gosh
2 years earlier

Anyone who does not charge their hybrid is a fool!
I think the survey cannot be compared to the real (not Saab infected) world. As well as the earlier Saab driver cannot be compared with today's either. Or only a small fraction.

Volvoab Driver
Volvoab Driver
2 years earlier

That's really exciting ...

Can't wait to see how Tom & staff decide. Everything seems possible to me if the boss chooses a classic car, which I think is pretty cool.

Who knows what's coming? From small, relatively reasonable EVs to vintage cars, everything seems possible to me. And how cool would that be?

According to the 1% rule, employees would hardly have a monetary advantage to pay taxes on vintage cars and, in return, really cool cars.

Stefan H.
Stefan H.
2 years earlier

Thank you for the survey with very interesting results.
I, too, can observe the phenomenon in my relatives that the initially highly praised hybrid is now hardly charged - with the result of a weight-related high fuel consumption (XC 90 and XC 40).
Tangled world ...