I’m looking to buy a first-hand car this year and have been looking at both EV and non-EV options. The killer for me is the lack of charging stations in virtually all rental apartments, so getting an EV is both more expensive and very inconvenient to maintain. But I also hesitate to buy a petrol car for fear that the government will quickly change tact and try retire IC cars quickly. E.g. there’s a movement that includes a call for a ban of IC car sales by 2025, and complete ban of use by 2030: [https://climatestrike.ch/](https://climatestrike.ch/)
I’m not fluent in German, so haven’t been able to keep up with the latest news. What’s the chance that this initiative goes to a vote and gets implemented? In general, what do you think will happen with the IC-EV policies in Switzerland?
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There’s no chance that _any_ initiative or law, in Switzerland or elsewhere, will ban existing ICE vehicles.
You’ve said it yourself: the initiative you’ve linked to wants to ban the _sales_ of ICE cars, i.e. new vehicles.
If you want an ICE, get one and use it for its lifetime.
I don’t expect to see a ban of IC cars any time soon. As you suggest, infrastructure is not ready yet, and it will likely take years. I expect if a ban were to happen, it would be on sales of IC cars, with existing vehicles still allowed, so more of a soft replacement than an abrupt transition to the drivers/owners. I don’t think a full ban of IC will ever happen. Old timer car collectors and such will keep these old IC cars alive, but they will be seen as increasingly exotic relative to electric cars. If an electric car works for you, get one, if not get something petrol based.
You will be able to buy ICE cars for at least the next 10 years. Electric only is a long, long was off.
By the time your used car is FUBAR, there will be maybe more incentive for electric but as of right now it’s the stone age, rent is high as it is and not everyone can afford a charging station.
I wish
Maybe just get a hybrid if you’re in the market for a new car
>The killer for me is the lack of charging stations in virtually all rental apartments
Anecdotally, it seems most rental management companies aren’t against setting up the infrastructure. They might not even make you pay, or at least not in full, since it’s pretty obvious that they’ll need EV chargers in the future if they want to keep renting those parking spots.
Just buy an EV. There’s an abundance of public charging options, especially in the urban areas. It’s not really too much of an inconvenience.
I assume the cars would be grandfathered in and you just wouldn’t be able to get a new one
If you live in a city get an electric bicycle and the general abonnement.
That being said Swiss are extremely protective when it gets to cars. I think all initiative trying to regulate were rejected.
i don’t see a ban to use, happening anytime soon. even IF, we had the infrastructure for electric, a vote for a ban for use, would never pass.
I am even doubting a ban on sale in the near future.
I find it more likely they will make gas engines, just unaffordable, its much softer of a measure and brings money
Don’t worry your car will be obsolete or broken before any new regulation might come into effect.
Consider public transit maybe or an ebike?
TLDR: I can confirm that it is possible to have an EV without owning a charging station and I’m not even living in a town.
In January my ICE car has been totalled in an accident (not my fault). I said once that this car will only be replaced by an EV. Now, I had to replace it much earlier than planned. So I’m currently renting a small EV (SEAT mii electric) for 3 months (Auto Abo) to test if it’s possible to have an EV without owning a charging station. Luckily, I’m allowed to charge the car at work on an usual 230V/10A power outlet. Alternatively, I can charge it while doing groceries since more and more bigger stores (Migros, Coop or even Aldi) offer charging stations to their customers, or I charge it on the only public charging stations in our village, which is a 10 mins stroll away from home.
I’m doing this for 2 months now and it works.
Result: It’s easy to have an EV without owning a charging station. You have to do some research first and maybe change your habits a bit. But it’s absolutely worth. After the 3-months rent I will buy a small EV.
Edit: I refer to OP’s statement that he doesn’t want an EV due to the lack of charging stations.
first we need a new nuclear power plant..
Any ban on internal combustion cars won’t prevent you from using the one you own, at least not for a very long time.
Don’t see a retroactive ban on ICEs more a ban on the selling ofe ICEs.
The EU will ban the sales of IC-cars by 2035. And most car manufacturers will stop producing IC way before of that because of much better profit margins from selling EVs.
So yes, Switzerland will need a plan to allow residents to charge their EV even if they rent a building. I think they will simply write in the building code that each rental parking spot must have a power plug. It’s cheaper to install then a wallbox and does its job.
Switzerland is never ever going to ban combustion engine. Before this happens, hell freezes over.
That being said. Doesn’t seem combustion engines are soft on your wallet.
I’d go for an EV and find some sort of charging sollution.
Not sure an ICE ban will come at all. But the scale is tipping fast and soon new EVs will vastly outnumber new ICEs – and eventually no ICEs will be sold anymore because creating them won’t be cost effective anymore. Then it’s just a matter of time until gas stations start vanishing and ICEs will be banned from entering cities (or city centers, at least) and maybe certain roads or tunnels.
Sure, this won’t happen in the next few years, but it will happen over the lifetime of a new ICE.
The most likely scenario is a two-pronged approach by the Swiss government:
* An eventual phase-out or even ban on the sale of ICE cars. Approx. 2035 so that’s not what I’d worry about.
* A gradually less attractive environment for ICE due to higher fuel taxes, higher fees, limited parking, fewer petrol stations etc.
* This combined leads to drastically lower market values for used ICE cars in the near future which is probably one of if not the biggest factor why I wouldn’t buy a new ICE car now.
* In contrast used EVs are more expensive than ever. You could have bought a Tesla Model 3 2-3 years ago and sell it a profit now.
No.
We might see diesel bans however. fine particles are a terrible health issue.
>But I also hesitate to buy a petrol car for fear that the government will quickly change tact and try retire IC cars quickly.
A 0.12 Fr increase on gasoline was voted down very recently and the majority of voters own ICE-cars, therefor the probability of this is right around 0%.
And if in 20-50 years something gets banned, it will be the sale of new ICE-cars, not owning already existing ones.
Jööh… when does the Star Trek reboot movie from 2009 start? 2233+, when Kirk drives a combustion motorcycle? Around that time, we’ll ban such things, because he drives really irresponsible. 😀