Engine Room – Electrifying Impossibilities – Wiener Zeitung Online

The quote from Ferry Porsche has been handed down: “The last car that will be built will be a sports car.” On closer inspection, this is romantic nonsense – it probably means that one of the strongest driving forces of mankind is the eternal urge for higher, further, faster. And automotive objects of longing were and are manifestations of freedom of movement, gain in distinction, comfort and speed.

I would also like to include the utility value of mechanical locomotion – then the equation for sports cars would look different again. Ferry Porsche should have known better, especially as the son of the legendary company founder Ferdinand: The first “Volkswagen” was a political project of the National Socialists (“Strength through Joy”), and tanks were then built for years. In this respect, Porsche could be corrected without hesitation: the last car that will be built will be a truck. With a bit of luck, no troop carrier.

How do you come up with such thoughts? Well, I’m driving a brand new vehicle with undeniable utility. I still love testing cars, simply because I think the opportunity to do so is a glimmer of hope for a fun and joyful future. Mankind has not yet renounced the idea of ​​individual motorized mobility (although it seems susceptible to it right now) – and the industry is struggling at high speed to reinvent itself radically. So many models (even the majority?) that are currently being designed and built are electric cars; Porsche cannot escape the dynamic of the upheaval either. It is still questionable whether all the neo-sports cars, electric SUVs and luxury e-cars really have a future, keywords: raw material and energy resources. What is emerging is an unfortunate development: here the plebs pushed into fully occupied trains and buses (if they don’t kick their bikes), there’s a clear path for millionaires, diplomats, VIPs and other privileged people. This can’t go well for long.

The car I’m currently testing is a Mercedes EQV. Whether this is a means of transport that is more at home on the luxury side than on that of commercial vehicles is debatable. It can easily transport eight people, and their luggage also fits in the trunk. Because it is in line with the spirit of the times, efficient and comfortable at the same time, you are in the ideological fast lane. The fact that the “348 kilometers of electrifying possibilities” – this advertising slogan is emblazoned on the side of the test vehicle – in reality only 280 kilometers remain despite a full tank (perhaps because it’s the dead of winter?) is easy to accept.

Unless, like me yesterday, you come to a 47 KW or 50 KW EVN charging station on the edge of the main square in Hollabrunn. And only with
11 KW can load. Reason: unknown. The on-board computer announced a charging time of 6 hours 42 minutes, costs: 60 euros. Then it went faster. The road to the future is paved with good intentions, small obstacles and pragmatic adventures.

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