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Germany is No 1 in Europe for EV production, No 2 in the world
- leononame 2y agoIt's not too surprising. Yes, Germany is slow to adapt to new tech, but they are a car manufacturing powerhouse and are the biggest country in Europe. The whole country is in an everlasting debate about its dependency on car manufacturing, and cars are _very_ important. It would be surprising if they weren't no 1 producer (and probably consumer) in Europe.
- toenail 2y ago> and are the biggest country in Europe Err, what? #6 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_European_countries_by_area https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_European_countries_by_...
- bierjunge 2y agoDepends on the metric you use. If we take nominal GDP instead of area, Germany is #1 in Europe [0]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_in_Europe_by_GDP_(nominal) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_in_Eu...
- manuelmoreale 2y agoThey’re probably talking GDP
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- Mashimo 2y agoMaybe he means by GDP. That would fit. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_in_Europe_by_GDP_(nominal) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_in_Eu...
- krior 2y agoIf you want to be pendantic: the biggest country by population in the EU. I don't think area has any relevance in the context of this discussion.
- audunw 2y agoI'm sure he meant by population https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_European_countries_by_population https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_European_countries_by_... Russia and Türkiye are partly in Asia, so not really completely European
- epolanski 2y agoFrance, Portugal, Spain, UK, Netherlands, Denmark too are partially located outside Europe.
- leononame 2y agoWhere I'm from, when you say "biggest" country, it's by default population unless specified otherwise. Area really isn't an important metric here (unless your country is tiny), because the ability of economic and industrial output scales with population more than with area. The most logical comparison would be by GDP here, because we're comparing economy. But for population, which is what I think about when specifying country size without any explanation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_European_countries_by_population https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_European_countries_by_... Germany is #3 here. You'll see that Russia and Turkey are partly in Europe and bigger than Germany, but since they're mostly in Asia I think most people wouldn't consider them mainly European but rather mainly Asian. There's bound to be some discussion here since it really isn't very clear cut. I'll rephrase to "Germany is at least the third-biggest country in Europe".
- hawski 2y agoOr just the biggest in the EU.
- toenail 2y agoThanks, fwiw, Russia is still #1 by population if you only count population in Europe.
- leononame 2y agoThat's definitely fair. I just blurped it out that way because, at least in my experience, Russia isn't really considered a European country "colloquially". At least where I'm from, people would usually say it's Asian when asked what continent Russia belongs to (if they had to pick one). But I agree it doesn't really hold up to more detailed scrutiny.
- oblio 2y ago> At least where I'm from, people would usually say it's Asian when asked what continent Russia belongs to (if they had to pick one). Heh, that's quite funny, where are you from? :-)
- hawski 2y agoIt may be unintuitive to you, but "the biggest" in many cases means "most populous" and Germany is that - we don't count Russia (because it is not entirely in Europe) or Turkey (for a similar reason) really.
- kgabis 2y agoPopulation of European Russia is ~110 million people so a bit more than Germany.
- blueflow 2y agoEconomy does not come from the geographical size, it comes from the people inhabitating it.
- mhandley 2y agoAlso home to Tesla's Berlin factory, which accounts for around 1/4 of German EV output.
- lispm 2y ago> Yes, Germany is slow to adapt to new tech Like renewable energy? 1st quarter 2024: 58,4% electricity from renewable energy. Up from 48.5% last year.
- leononame 2y agoSure, renewable _electricity_ is up. But up alone is not enough. When talking energy, you should use gross energy, including e.g. transport. Take this chart [0] from wikipedia [1]. Doesn't look too amazing. Now, being a gross exporter, the numbers are obviously skewed, but I didn't really mean EVs or electrical production specifically. German bureaucracy famously still runs on fax and emails are printed, there are lots of small-ish villages to small cities with _really_ bad internet connection among other things. It's a big country where politicians seem to be really afraid of change. It's not that the country is stuck in the 70s, but some things just take more time to arrive in Germany, or at least in parts of it. [0]: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/timeline/8v6gc06xadw6eqpesjligw0l8tr6g4f.png https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/timeline/8v6gc06xa... [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renewable_energy_in_the_European_Union#Policy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renewable_energy_in_the_Europe...
- lispm 2y agoI live in Germany and I can't even remember where and when I have seen a fax. I was flying back from munich to hamburg last week, with a passenger jet, which is produced in my hometown, with internet in the plane - not a fax.
- probably_wrong 2y agoIt is surprising to me, though, seeing as Germany was the country responsible for undercutting the ban [1] on sales of new combustion engine cars in the EU after 2035. It is wild to me that they would block such an important deal knowing that they are already ahead of everyone else. [1] https://edition.cnn.com/2023/03/24/cars/eu-combustion-engine-debate-climate-intl/index.html https://edition.cnn.com/2023/03/24/cars/eu-combustion-engine...
- Rinzler89 2y agoIt's not really surprising. EVs (both foreign and domestic) haven't caught up in price and range as fast as expected since the proposal was originally made, for EVs to be a drop-in replacement for ICE cars the voting population can afford and drives to work everyday and on vacation in the south of Europe every summer. And neither is the EV charging infrastructure already there to support the same use cases. And since there's no sign we'll be there in 10 years, then a lot of voters will be pissed that they'll be priced out of car ownership when the future they were promised didn't pan out. I'm already betting the deadline will be extended past 2035 as we get closer to it.
- aaomidi 2y agoIs range seriously a problem for someone in Europe? US I kinda get it, superchargers help but they’re not perfect, but in europe?
- jakewins 2y agoIf you dig a bit you’ll find studies that show things like “95% of vehicles are driven less than <some number much smaller than standard EV 400km range> per day” So no, I don’t think range is a huge issue, and fast charging infra is a lot better in EU than US in my experience. Price though - it’s a tall order to expect everyone to buy EVs when the low cost options are so much higher than the low cost gasoline options. I can see how that would make politicians nervous
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- jc6 2y agoBut the good Greeks did us a great service by shpwing us they couldnt afford those cars without taking loans from German banks. And by not being able to repay those loans, proved what a fucking house of cards the whole story about being a 'power house' is.
- mtmail 2y agoI guess that's a reference to the Greek government-debt crisis of 2007 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_government-debt_crisis#Germany's_role_in_Greece https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_government-debt_crisis#G... "Critics have also accused the German government of hypocrisy; of pursuing its own national interests via an unwillingness to adjust fiscal policy in a way that would help resolve the eurozone crisis; of using the ECB to serve their country's national interests; and have criticised the nature of the austerity and debt-relief programme Greece has followed as part of the conditions attached to its bailouts."
- Moldoteck 2y agofyi the biggest country in europe is afaik ukraine, your point holds if we talk about eu in europe to ignore france's external territories
- LtVodka 2y agoits not.
- sgc 2y agoBiggest country when talking about economics is almost invariably in reference to population. And they appear to be talking about the EU, otherwise we would have to include Turkey, and another country we would rather not.
- qwertox 2y agoI once took a tour through the VW HQ's manufacturing plant in Wolfsburg. Those buildings are incredible, some packed full with robots all squeezed into the smallest possible space. Videos on YouTube [0] give you an impression of what it looks like, but being there, seeing and hearing all those machines, is yaw-dropping. For those who have the opportunity to go, go! People like to go to museums to look at paintings and the like, this is no different, but you get to see what modern production can look like at its peak. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FD-ibWKi2J8&t=205 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FD-ibWKi2J8&t=205
- ivolimmen 2y agoIt's the biggest car producer in Europe so makes sense...
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- kjksf 2y agoThis is not the news that informs. I can't tell from the article if they count Tesla's Berlin factory as "German assembly line". If not, the article should say that. If yes, to say that "Germany’s automakers manufactured" 1 million EVs is misleading given that around 25% of that was Tesla's Model Y. Tesla has a factory in Germany but it's a stretch to call it a German automaker, just like Toyota has factories in Mexico but we don't call it Mexican company. Either way, to namecheck Volkswagen or BMW but not Tesla is just bizarre.
- mensetmanusman 2y agoThe people are the automakers, not the brand behind it.
- art3m 2y agoAssembly line doesn't make you 'automaker'.
- dgrin91 2y agoFord also has a Germany factory. Probably most big auto manufacturers do. Foreign cars are big in Germany (I think I read 40%), as they are in basically every country. Of course other factories should still count, why wouldn't they? You're only thinking of Tesla because its always in the news, but there are plenty of other 100% legit foreign auto manufacturers in Germany.
- panick21_ 2y agoI think looking at it without PHEVs would give a better picture for the future.
- art3m 2y agoGerman EV production is too expensive, they need to cut on additional options and quality of materials. Electric BMW X3 is just a joke in China on it's price point.
- thelastgallon 2y agoGermany is weird. They talk a lot about green, but sabotage and protest against Tesla factory, because 'reasons'. While being perfectly ok with Coal strip mining. The mine is on the site of the ancient Hambach Forest, which was purchased by RWE in 1978. The company then cut most of the forest down and cleared it to mine. Only 10% of the forest area remains: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hambach_surface_mine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hambach_surface_mine https://www.npr.org/2021/06/28/1010956116/a-coal-mining-monster-is-threatening-to-swallow-a-small-town-in-germany https://www.npr.org/2021/06/28/1010956116/a-coal-mining-mons...
- dvh 2y ago[flagged]
- luoc 2y agoTurns out more than one opinion exist here ;)
- KingOfCoders 2y agoJa die Tage der Gleichschaltung sind glücklicherweise vorbei.
- KingOfCoders 2y agoGleichschaltungfans hier?
- throwaway63467 2y agoPerfectly ok? The protests against cutting down the Hambach forest were among the fiercest environmental protests in German history, activists camped out in the forest for years and it took hundreds of policemen to resolve that situation, one person died in an accident and the media covered this for many months. And to be frank electric cars don’t solve the climate crisis, right now they’re little more than expensive toys for the affluent, it’s cool to drive around in a Tesla but don’t believe you save the planet doing that.
- dr-detroit 2y ago[dead]
- KingOfCoders 2y agoIn other news Volkswagen is heavily investing in energy storage from used car batteries, e.g. https://www.heise.de/en/news/Volkswagen-s-first-green-energy-storage-system-in-northern-Germany-in-2025-9753238.html https://www.heise.de/en/news/Volkswagen-s-first-green-energy...
- prirun 2y agoI've had a couple of German cars, and a few Japanese cars. I'll never own another German car because the maintenance costs (my experience and that of a family member) are crazy compared to Japanese cars.