Diesel Dieter versus Electric Ernie… Currently (2026) probably the fiercest battle right after post-corona opinions :-). Yet the matter is so simple: Electric wins. Always.
Why Electric Always Wins – A Retrospective.
We don't really need to explain that, we can just take a look into the past. Humanity has needed kinetic energy since becoming sedentary.
Thermal energy that they had already needed for millennia, for heating and cooking. Here, electricity only plays a meaningful role since affordable heat pumps became available. But that's a completely different topic – even though heat pumps will „win“ as heating devices for the same reasons listed here.
Kinetic energy has played a role for hundreds of years, but essentially for only one purpose: processing grain into flour. Or to make oil from seeds. Mills.
The settlement of humanity obviously occurred for the primary purpose of agriculture, and specifically for grain products as food (or possibly even primarily as a source of alcoholto cultivate. The grain kernels were previously processed into flour or groats with a lot of human labor, which soon led to mills as a technical advancement.
These required kinetic energy (without going into the to go into the full details of a mill).
The beginnings of kinetic energy were still work (performed by humans or animals, Göpelgang or Göbbelgang). However, water and wind were soon added as driving energy. Renewable energies! There was nothing else back then... But we'll come back to that later.
The advantage was clear: it no longer required overly expensive and low-performing humans or animals to power milling facilities. Even in early times, a windmill could generate performance around 30 kW. A trained human manages about 200-300 watts, a horse as a standard size 736 watts. Therefore, windmills and watermills (with the usual 5-15 kW at the time) were already vastly superior to these energy sources.
And: Back then, the wind and water didn't send bills. Operating a mill with wind and water power made economic sense centuries and millennia ago! However, even back then, the initial investment was significantly higher than, for example, with capstan systems. Thousands of years ago: It costs money to save money. And otherwise, you were just anticipating Harbeck by centuries: If there was no wind or no water flowing, you'd just work through the night and grind the next day.
Then came the steam engine. This provided much higher energy, i.e., driving power. However, due to its construction and weight, it was immobile, just like wind and water mills. They stood where they were built. In contrast to the regenerative drive systems, a steam engine could in principle be set up anywhere its driving energy was needed. Thus, it was already significantly more flexible than the previous technologies... and thereby drove the regeneratively powered wheels into the realm of museums and economic insignificance. OK, not always, as the old systems could run significantly more cheaply in effect. Thus, the remnants were destroyed by large corporations by law. Fossil-Altmeier and Gas-Katie thus already had role models very early on for your state-sponsored destruction of future technologies.
Steam engines eventually became so light that they could be installed in ships (where weight and space are not as important) and on steel rails (then called railways). Due to their weight and space requirements, they did not play a significant role as road or agricultural vehicles. However, the kinetic energy they generated could only be utilized in this specific form: as kinetic energy. In ships, this was directly transferred to the drive shaft for the propeller or paddle wheels, the same for steam locomotives. In factories, it was transmitted through drive belts and transmission shafts throughout halls, and in mills, it directly powered various mechanisms, especially the millstones.
The movement could not be „transported“ over a greater distance, but had to be „consumed“ locally. A storage of kinetic energy was not possible.
Internal combustion engines were already so compact and powerful that they could be used in airplanes, electric locomotives, and automobiles, as well as being a much more flexible drive for tools and machines. However, storing and remotely using kinetic energy only became possible through the intermediate step of electricity, which was also made usable around the same time.
With electricity, the use of kinetic energy could now suddenly occur independently of location via power lines, as well as independently of time through various storage options, which hadn't been possible before.
This is nothing new, what's interesting about it is the transition period!
Water and wind-powered mills were likely used for millennia, with documented use for approximately 8 centuries. And after the advent of steam engines as a universal source of motive power in Germany around 1785, it took about 180 years until the last legally mandated water and wind grain mills were shut down.
Steam engines played no significant role as motor vehicles, but their use in railways and as power machines was only made possible by internal combustion engines (diesel and Otto engines), which were practically usable from around 1890. The The last steam locomotive in West German railway service was acquired at the end of the 1950s.. The conversion therefore only took about 60 years, about 1/3 of the time that steam engines still needed to replace regeneratively operated mills.
And even at this time, electrification was playing an increasingly important role at the railway, while motor vehicles only gained significant traction with the advent of internal combustion engines. By 1999, the western rail lines had already been electrified to over 50%, especially on the main routes. As a result, significantly more kilometers were traveled electrically than the 50% figure, amounting to approximately 90% of rail traffic.
This transition now took only about 40 years.
Let's briefly move from locomotion to other users of kinetic energy.
Drill presses and lathes were once powered by steam, and some even by regenerative energy before that. Can anyone today still imagine a drill press with a transmission belt?
Compressed air tools were once powered by dry steam from steam engines (and similar). Can one imagine a workshop today without an electric compressor? Ventilation and exhaust systems, Water supply and disposal (e.g., in mining!) were once the domain of steam engines. Lifts, angle grinders, and jigsaws; high-speed, and therefore less painful, dental drills; the entire dental treatment chair... The list of electrically powered tools has become endless—most of them unimaginable with steam or belt drives. And we haven't even gotten to electronics and microelectronics yet. Let's just think about video cameras, smartphones, projectors, and computers.
And: There's no going back! No one would seriously consider powering a hand drill „somehow“ with a water wheel or a steam engine today. Often, the question would also arise: „How would that even work?“
So, and with this little historical digression, we come to the current disruptive shift: the last domains of combustion engines, and possibly their end.
Diesel generators are increasingly being replaced by solar and battery-powered inverters with virtually unlimited capacity. Those responsible for keeping emergency power generators operational year-round in places like hospitals, for example, can sing a song of thanks. And unlike the previous diesel generators, which could only be operated economically during an actual power outage (costs are irrelevant in an emergency), the inverters, their batteries, and ideally also solar panels on the roof can effectively reduce grid power consumption all year round. Thus, the emergency plan becomes a daily operation.
How will vehicle electrification continue to develop?
The classification by history further up helps here again. The replacement of wind and hydropower plants by steam engines, and in part by internal combustion engines, took several hundred years, if only because there were neither steam engines nor internal combustion engines for the first few hundred years :) After the advent of steam engines, it took roughly 180 years until the old windmills and watermills were replaced. Hydropower plants were often converted directly to electricity generation and thus preserved.
Steam engines could only last for a considerably shorter time. Their heyday lasted only about 60 years before they were largely replaced by internal combustion engines.
And the situation with internal combustion engine vehicles looks even worse... Tesla only really gained attention around 2012 with the Tesla S; while the Roadsters were sold before that, in my opinion, they still count as experiments.
Since 2023, „the Chinese“ have been significantly disrupting the electric car markets, pushing all traditional manufacturers hard.
In 2026, in Germany 25% of new registrations were registered as all-electric vehicles. This is only 13 years after the first practically usable pure electric car (let's forget the early electric ones...). Worldwide, by 2025, about 1/4 of New vehicles at least partially electric. But depending on the country, this looks completely different!
In Norway, there are hardly any internal combustion engines among new registrations. By 2025, Denmark already had more than 60% of new registrations that were at least partially electric. China, which will be the world’s largest automotive market by 2025, has 33% new electric vehicle registrations. In Ethiopia, the import of passenger cars with internal combustion engines is simply prohibited.
These numbers are logarithmic, they grow so each year faster than the previous year. Combustion engines are dying out, and right now.
Where can internal combustion engines still not be replaced, or perhaps never will be?
Airplanes are definitely at the top of the list. It's not currently foreseeable that the necessary energy densities can be achieved. And in the air, an intermediate stop plays a very significant role, compounded by the high energy requirement for every takeoff.
Heavy construction machinery such as bulldozers and excavators, as well as large cranes, also have an excessive appetite for energy. From my perspective, electrification for these will remain limited for a long time, or perhaps forever. Although there are already ideas with battery storage or grid connections via extension cables, this is not realistic in the short term.
Which driver profiles will likely never be satisfied with electric cars?
These are typically found in discussion forums, especially in the Heise Forum, where there's a lot going on. A very typical Here you can see the internal combustion engine user. And then Rene drives then in the meantime electric!
1,000 kilometers every day, no time to refuel, eat, or even pee, ideally with another 1,000 km back the same day. Sure, a bit exaggerated, but that's always the mantra. Let's leave it at that 🙂
What are the arguments against a fully electric vehicle?
A lack of charging infrastructure. That's it. Otherwise, there's a solution today for practically every user profile, including field service employees and those who park on the street.
What are the pros and cons of a hybrid drive?
In short: It's neither fish nor fowl, as the saying goes in German. To many, hybrid sounds like the best of both worlds. In reality, however, it's the combination of the biggest disadvantages from two worlds. I'm not writing here about vehicles that drive their wheels with both combustion and electric power. Those are already dead. But plug-in hybrids are going to make a massive comeback in 2025 and 2026. With these disadvantages:
- MaintenanceAdded to the very inexpensive, low-maintenance battery system is a complete combustion engine with all the garbage you actually want to get rid of. Oil, exhaust system, ignition, air filter, generator... All the things that are supposed to be history with the BEV (Battery Electric Vehicle) are still being lugged around.
- Battery capacity & battery lifeThe big problem with hybrids: batteries that are far too small are overloaded far too intensely, and therefore age („degrade“) very quickly, and thus on their own to a problem which is solely due to their size (or under-dimensioning). Large batteries age (almost) exclusively due to calendar time, that is, over time. LFP loses about 1 % per year at temperatures around 20–25°C, while NMC loses around 2% per year. The key factors here are the duration spent at full charge (SoC around 100%) and the temperature (above 25° isn’t ideal).
- WeightYes… Battery-powered cars are inherently much heavier than most gasoline-powered vehicles. But that doesn't make much of a difference; only the rolling resistance costs more energy. Recuperation, meaning the recovery of electrical energy through engine braking, compensates for a lot of this inherent disadvantage. But then there's also a complete 1.5-liter turbo engine with an exhaust system and generator. This size is now quite well standardized; you'll find this power class in most plug-in hybrids.
Pity: An absolute emergency „combustion engine“ (generator), portable from the hardware store, with 3kW would be completely sufficient for me! When I arrive at my destination, I usually look for a hotel and go out to eat, or have a nice drink, or whatever. If I can't find a charging station on site, I could charge my BEV overnight that way. - Ride comfortHere, the hybrids score just as well as the pure BEVs, apart from the even higher weight.
- Stench And DirtEvery now and then, the crates just stink like any other combustion engine. And you still have to fill them up with gas. And they can leak oil, too.
What speaks in favor of a BEV (battery electric vehicle)?
Oh dear... I can hardly stop!
- Driving pleasure. I have already driven many different vehicles, and also really enjoyed BMW and Passat diesels, and also at 240 km/h on German autobahns at night. But the quiet gliding and jerk-free acceleration result in such „natural“ driving for me as I have never experienced before. Yes, even the increasingly rare trips with the 2.5L Nissan Navara diesel are also fun! But this speed machine stays completely blameless in the garage longer and longer. In the last 12 months we've taken it out of the garage about 5 times.
- Loading or „Refueling“That is the most fun part. Coming home, plugging it in, doing something else, no stinking hands. At home on the grid. At home with solar power. For free at the supermarket. Yes, indeed: my EV hasn't cost me a single cent in subsidies for its 15 thousand km (as of July 2026)! At home it gets solar power anyway (yes, yes, yes, strictly speaking you should factor in the depreciation of the solar system, but who actually does that?). It was only charged once in Davao, our local capital. Also for free, at SM Ecoland. It didn't need it, but since it doesn't cost anything... Probably dirty coal power, though. On the way home I pushed it a bit harder so the coal power was used up quickly. And then put clean solar power back in at home. Luckily, the fresh electricity is stored right at the top of the batteries, so you can get it back out quickly. But looking at the real background: Which combustion engine can you permanently charge at home? Or in front of more and more restaurants? Or in front of the supermarket? Or at a friend's place for a barbecue? That's right: None! That's why I don't care about charging time at all: (M)y EV practically always has enough range „in the tank.“ Yes, that can turn out differently depending on the usage profile, but for very, very many users, this is precisely the use case.
- Energy sourceA BEV doesn't care at all where its electricity comes from. Nuclear power plant or coal power plant? Doesn't matter, plug it in! Solar energy, wind power, nuclear fusion? Go ahead, plug it in! In every country, at every outlet, the electric car takes whatever is offered.
- CostsAround 2025 was the year when BEVs became cheaper to purchase than combustion engine vehicles in Asia. And BEVs are already cheaper to run. Further developments will bring additional cost advantages for BEVs, thus further accelerating the transition.
And why are German and European manufacturers struggling so much?
Here we are at the convergence of very smart company leaders and very stupid parroters (Lenin supposedly used the term „useful idiots“ for these obedient parroters) from politics and the media. Germany lost touch with the future a long time ago. Once again. Just like in 2012 with solar and wind technology, which was driven out of Germany by Altmaier with the help of „Gas-Kati". It is simply hardly worth switching to electric in Germany anymore. So people want to run the old plants until the last combustion engine, and then just lock up and let them rot. The future is happening in Asia. This is where new automotive technologies are being built and also developed. An early ban on combustion engines would have disrupted or is disrupting this development. Then German (or American) manufacturers would also have to retool their existing plants. Thanks to the CDU, the Bild-Zeitung, and "Diesel-Dieter," VW, BMW, Mercedes, etc., can still make money in Germany with the old plants, which they use to develop and manufacture modern vehicles in China and Asia. Smart business people. Stupid media. Oh yeah... and Christian Lindner.„Openness to technology" and "Highly efficient internal combustion engine„... what nonsense. The latter do not exist, the former is a dead end. Please remember that the next time someone preaches to you, „But this year really is the year of hydrogen!“ Should Germany ever reach the point where it generates hydrogen from its renewable overcapacities (we have to get there!!!), it belongs Hydrogen as synthesis gas in industry!
And the Japanese?
Yeah…. that is a funny story by the way! Not a few of the „useful idiots“ parroted obediently that after all Toyota, Mazda, Mitsubishi and others Asians will get by well with combustion engines in the long run, because you simply ignored all the EV hype from the Germans and Chinese. And reality? It has now caught up with you. Entire markets are going Germany and Japan just slipped through the cracks. And the former industry leader Toyota? Expects a complete bankruptcy in the coming years. Why? Because electric simply always wins and a hesitation and procrastination get you nowhere. That is also where it comes from Nissan with its Chinese partnerships slightly better through this transition.
Key points
„Tipping points“ refers to circumstances that can enormously accelerate a more or less foreseeable and predictable development, causing it to effectively „tip.“.
Regarding climate change, it is assumed, for example, that a warming of the Earth's surface will eventually cause the permafrost soils in Siberia to thaw, which will then release huge amounts of methane. This, in turn, will so drastically alter the atmosphere that from that point on, any countermeasures by humanity will be utterly futile. This theory is not to be discussed here; the term „tipping point“ is merely to be clarified.
- Leid, Neid & Freude
- Gas station closures
- Districts or cities or entire states are banning internal combustion vehicles
- Government intervention or prohibitions
Let's go through a few tipping points, just to get a feel for it. Let's start with the smaller influences and work our way up to the big ones.
Joy and envy / sorrow
Suffering is easiest to explain right now in 2026. A yellow drake attacks Iran, and Iran bombs a few ships, and suddenly one of the most vital lifelines for crude oil, oil products like diesel and jet fuel, and also for helium is „shut down.“ Along with that, aluminum (precursors) and other raw materials. But the helium from there alone is going to cause much larger disruptions... it's just not as visible as the price of diesel at the gas station. And, oh wonder: Suddenly the Electric car registrations, used electric car sales and electric car orders are skyrocketing. Anyone who doesn't have an electric car yet is watching more or less enviously those weird guys who bought such a dumb Lego-mobile already last year or the year before... and feeling a sense of regret for not having been among the early adopters. Suddenly, a Tesla is cool again...
And those exact early adopters? Clearly, from today's perspective, the EVs from 2020, 201 [sic] etc. were mostly absolute junk. Ranges of 150 km, even in 2025, are only suitable for kindergarten taxi duty, not for everyday life. When turning on a heater or air conditioner—hopefully already installed—immediately shows up in the remaining range, the driving fun is instantly gone. There is no need to debate or sugarcoat that. But even in 2020, there were already „good enough“ everyday Teslas! And even with this class of car, which in terms of development is a decade behind today, there was a free feature still unrecognized or misunderstood by the masses: driving fun! Even today, in 2026, there are still some "Diesel Dieters" who have never driven an electric car. And driving fun can only be experienced, not explained. That is and always was the case with a 5-liter Ford Mustang, and it is still the case with a Tesla, an Xpeng, a BYD. Such a massive combustion engine gives you the feeling of riding a heavy machine. Every modern electric vehicle gives you the feeling of floating on a magic carpet. To this day, I get a goofy grin on my face when I step on the accelerator of my meagerly powered Dongfeng (70 kW/90 hp, which is barely more than a walking frame for electric cars nowadays!) and the box takes off completely smoothly. For the die-hard manual transmission lovers (do they still exist? VW scrapped its manual transmissions after the dual-clutch transmission, didn't they?), there is still the KIA Ioniq 5 with engine sounds and gear shifting. An EV can simulate a manual/automatic transmission. No combustion engine can even emulate the driving feel of an EV.
Performance
In Germany, a de facto upper limit for internal combustion vehicles of „around 2 liters“ has been established for many years. There is only a sparse selection of larger combustion engines, which are then significantly more expensive. Thus, a power limit of „around 200 hp“ has also established itself.
With electric cars today, 700 horsepower is no longer an upper limit. Porsche Taycan GTS / Turbo, Nio ES8 with 520 kW (approx. 707 hp). Cadillac Escalade IQ and the Tesla Model S P85D are just a few examples. Nobody needs that, but in this performance class, it's more about „having“ than „needing.“ And none of them have either „turbo lag“ or „torque interruptions.“.
Equipment
Even today's simpler BEVs practically come standard with: stationary air conditioning (usually not available for love or money in a combustion engine car), stationary heating without any exhaust emissions, a 40, 60, or 100 kW „power bank.“ This feature is particularly awesome: modern BEVs (okay, not the ones from Germany) almost always have a V2L function: depending on the model, up to 3.6 or even 7.2 kW of electrical power can be drawn from the vehicle battery. For a hot plate, a real television, a portable fridge... or on the construction site for the concrete mixer, the plate compactor, the Hilti, the Makita chargers. A massive generator, always along for the ride. No one has to winterize it, remember to change the oil on time, no one has to buy gas... A power bank that reliably supplies 220V all day long while camping, at the allotment garden, or out in the wild. Mind you, these are standard equipment here in Asia. Not paid extras! Even my basic Dongfeng Nammi 01, which costs the equivalent of about 19,000 euros, has all of that! Plus 4-wheel disc brakes on 205-width tires straight from the factory (!), frameless windows with power windows on all 4 doors, inductive phone charging, navigation via phone on the large display, frunk (front trunk... OK, I had to order that separately for 70 euros).
Excluding fossil-fueled cars from residential areas, neighborhoods, cities, and countries
Let's start small: A housing estate, or just individual residents of an estate, no longer wants roaring motorcycles, stinking combustion engines, or oil stains on the newly paved access road. And just like that, an estate is banned for combustion engine vehicles by majority vote.
Unimaginable? Well... In Germany certainly hard to imagine. But, you can't repeat it often enough: Germany is no longer the measure of all things! Imagine a fenced community in San Francisco, a subdivision in China or in the Philippines. Gated residential areas with a single central entrance and exit. Of course, such residential areas can simply change a traffic regulation prohibiting combustion engines from driving through the complex. And that's not even all that far away in Germany either: For example, there are already many areas, which may no longer be ridden with motorcycles. But, as written, Germany is not the measure of all things. Not anymore.
Even such a „minor intervention“ can trigger something else for the immediate surroundings: the nearest gas station or the next 2 gas stations no longer have enough customers and close. And suddenly completely different drivers are affected by this as well. There are still countries where new gas stations continue to be (allowed to be) built, especially countries with inadequate drinking water and environmental protection. In the aggregate, however, there are in the effectively in most countries Gas station closures.
Besides these residential areas, entire cities could also ban internal combustion engines. Impossible? Take a look around Hamburg with the (subsequently lifted) diesel driving ban in large areas or right after Stockholm. Here, too, „thinking out loud“ can lead to potentially unprofitable gas stations being closed immediately or sooner, which again makes internal combustion engines less convenient for larger catchment areas (see next heading).
And, yes, ultimately entire countries decide against combustion engine vehicles. There are very good reasons for this as well! For one thing, consumer competition. Diesel and kerosene are very similar raffinates, and oil refineries can adjust their production processes slightly so that a little less diesel and a little more kerosene is extracted from the crude oil. There is a substitute for diesel: batteries. There is no substitute for kerosene in aircraft.
And of course, in addition to pure resource scarcity, economic and political decisions can also play a role here. Economically: A country might be able to produce electricity very cheaply, as is the case in Norway or Ethiopia. Or a country no longer wants to support, or at least wants to support somewhat less, the madmen of the world. First of all, purchasing crude oil, gasoline, or diesel is a drain of money from one's own economy. If crude oil is procured from abroad for billions, that money is lost to the domestic economic cycle. Period. At the same time, this also usually finances crazy warmongers around the world. Iran, Libya, Saudi Arabia, USA: Almost always, money for crude oil (products) ends up in the hands of unhinged rulers. Both together can be a strong incentive for an economy to minimize the purchase of oil and oil products. And for the transport sector, there is already a „more than good enough“ substitute.
Gas station closures
As already touched upon, there are already in many countries fewer gas stations every year. However, a dense gas station network is the killer argument for many in favor of their beloved combustion engine; the further one has to drive to fill up their diesel, the less attractive burning fossil fuels to get moving becomes.
What is all this about the „Sinicization“ of motor vehicles / cars / passenger cars?
You keep reading in somewhat silly articles about Chinese cars as a „cell phone on wheels.“ That is, of course, nonsense. In Asia, too, one can very well tell the difference between text messages and spinning tires.
What is true, however, and this is quite important for understanding the current slump of German manufacturers, is that Asians in general use a vehicle that plunges them into debt for years in a completely different way than German users in particular.„Mini-camping“ is probably the most accurate description. Even here in the Philippines, BEV owners are already getting together for mini camping trips (due to the rapid buildup of exhaust fumes, it’s actually more common among pure BEV owners than hybrid users). Almost every Chinese car offers the option to convert two seats into a sleeping area (usually fully electric). Videos and music can be played on the displays. The air conditioning—or, in some areas, the heater—can also be operated while the car is parked. If not uh a built-in refrigerator is, then with a battery capacity of close to or over 100kW, you can easily run a mobile cooler for 200 hours. That's almost a week! Try doing that with that 2.5-liter 12V SUV beast! The starter won't make a peep after 3 hours there!
3 or 4 cars parked side by side, a tarp pulled over them. The V2L socket with 3 kW of power that is common here today makes it possible to operate a microwave, induction cooker, and projector... perhaps even already built into the headlights.
In short: German combustion engines are fully developed. Cool head-up displays, standard inductive phone charging, 7-seaters as family cars... cheaper than a boring Passat for 69k euros in the „luxury trim.“ And a Chinese person would open the front hood there and wonder why there is no second trunk (front trunk = frunk) to be found, but rather this weird accumulation of metal. And why oil is dripping out down there. And why it all smells so much of decomposed dinosaurs.
It is this development that is currently making it very difficult for German automakers to keep pace. While you can still read in forums in Germany: „My car doesn't have power windows, they just break, I can still repair the manual ones myself,“ at the same time you are reading one of the nails in the coffin of the German automotive industry. This„My car is more of an apartment than a car“Germany has completely missed out on that development. By the way, VW is capable of that! The ID.6 has many of those features. 6 seats, a cool entertainment system... and simply doesn't offer this box in Germany. And when someone discovers that gap, they will simply sued Volkswagen into bankruptcy. That sort of thing gets noticed here in Asia! If an expat goes to a dealership here and somehow the conversation turns to a VW, they'll be shown the videos of this case—which are also available in Chinese and Japanese—and asked if the customer seriously wants to expose themselves to such a vendor. And just like that, it becomes a Xiaomi or a GAC. No, Chinese people don't want a „phone on wheels.“ They want added value that justifies their immense investment (relative to local purchasing power). And they simply don't get that from VW, BMW, and Mercedes. With BYD, such gimmicks are built right in, straight from the factory; you just choose the number of motors (2-wheel drive or 4-wheel drive) and get the complete package, fully loaded.