Over the past few years, I have conducted dozens of tests with electric cars in Germany, Switzerland and Austria. The starting point was not always my home in Upper Bavaria, but often in the Fugger city of Augsburg or in the Rhineland, my 'original home'. This explains why I have not yet invested in my own wallbox in our garage.

As is well known, Norway is at the top of the world in sales of electric cars as a percentage per inhabitant. It makes sense when we, as one of the few countries in the world with high taxes on cars, remove both one-off taxes and VAT on electric cars, which makes them cheaper than similar cars with fossil powertrains. The situation is very different in most other markets. In several of them, the proportion is virtually zero. The reason is that electric cars are far more expensive than fossil cars, than for so long.

Globally, we are experiencing a strong surge in electric vehicle sales. This increasing global demand for electric cars and stationary electricity storage means that we will face the challenge of more batteries that need to be looked after at the end of their lifecycle. While the current volumes of available batteries at the end of their lifecycle are not really substantial, the topic will gain importance in the years to come.

Free parking for cars with an “E” license plate? This is now possible in some German cities. Time and again, you see cars with license plates that have an 'E' behind the number.