In Wolfsburg, the home turf of Volkswagen (VW), the growing popularity of EVs is ironically turning into a headwind for the business, it seems. According to a report from German news site golem.de, while demand for gasoline cars is falling, the profit margin per EV is lower than for gasoline cars, squeezing VW’s earnings. The topic, shared on the German-language Lemmy community c/dach, drew a wide range of reactions — from firsthand accounts of driving 700–1,600 km in an EV, to gripes about eight-month delivery waits after ordering, to jabs at confusing model names like the ‘ID. Polo.’
Gasoline cars fall out of favor as the EV boom casts a long shadow over Wolfsburg
Oh great, here we go again with 'technology openness' (lol)
8Anonymous2026-09-22 11:37
Ah yes, the 'highly efficient gasoline engine'!! 1! 111!
18Anonymous2026-09-22 11:48
Technically it's 'Technologieoffenheit' (German for 'technology openness'). Sending hugs and kisses from Minister Reiche.
5Anonymous2026-09-22 10:47
Unfortunately, anxiety never solved anything.
7Anonymous2026-09-22 10:36
But I'm sure the managers responsible will still walk away with their bonuses, as always.
9Anonymous2026-09-22 12:16
People say 'there's no way you can drive round-trip from Flensburg to Garmisch every day,' but I saw someone elsewhere basing their entire complaint about EV range on one 600 km trip they take once a year (through a snowstorm, apparently).
13Anonymous2026-09-22 15:07
On our 700 km vacation trip, total charging time was just 36 minutes (two 18-minute stops). Both times, charging finished before we even got back to the car. Total electricity cost: 36 euros, including topping back up to 80% at the end.
14Anonymous2026-09-22 12:46
At the end of the day, people can just keep moving the goalposts to whatever conclusion they already wanted — 'I don't need an EV' or 'I only want that one specific car.'
15Anonymous2026-09-22 16:19
On a roughly 1,300 km trip to Cornwall, I charged 3 times, each under 30 minutes. Honestly, I don't get what everyone's so worked up about…
10Anonymous2026-09-22 11:46
Also, wasn't the e-Up actually selling pretty well? And yet they discontinued it anyway…
16Anonymous2026-09-22 14:00
From what I saw on Wikipedia, order windows only opened once every 12–18 months, and only for two months at a time — after that the production slots filled up right away.
And besides, there's no way VW would ever release a budget car (let alone a budget EV!) — that would cut into their per-unit profit!
19Anonymous2026-09-22 11:22
It says 'that includes the ID. Polo, Cupra Raval, Škoda Epiq, and the ID. Cross from the so-called "urban electric car family"'… but come on, if those AREN'T the models actually selling, I feel like I can guess why they're not.
I genuinely had to reread that list three times…
25Anonymous2026-09-22 12:24
If something's actually selling well, it just doesn't fit the 'doom and gloom' narrative. So it got cut!
11Anonymous2026-09-22 13:23
It says 'That said, since profit per EV is lower than a comparable gasoline car, this shift will actually shrink VW's earnings.'
Which is exactly why VW keeps doubling down on gasoline cars.
12Anonymous2026-09-22 10:19
Well, Chinese automakers saw this coming and moved on it ages ago. It's just our domestic industry that didn't read the writing on the wall. It's a real headache for people who actually want a new car right now too — I ordered an EV and was told it'd be an 8-month wait, and dealers don't exactly have lots full of finished stock either.
17Anonymous2026-09-22 14:58
Somebody, please, think of the poor shareholders
20Anonymous2026-09-22 15:18
Ha, funny enough I read that exact post while I was still waiting on my fries even though the car said charging was already done and it was ready to go. Never been an issue for me — though admittedly I haven't driven through a snowstorm yet.
21Anonymous2026-09-22 16:57
1,600 km to Sweden, 3 charging stops one way. Honestly, the ones complaining are probably just 'Diesel Dieter' types (a mocking nickname for the stereotypical diesel-loving, no-nonsense driver) who hate spending time with their family and would rather grind through 13 hours of nonstop driving just to get it over with.
22Anonymous2026-09-22 11:42
Toyota's EV model names are even more chaotic. At this point I have to assume they're doing it on purpose.
Toyota Urban Cruiser
Toyota bZ4X
Toyota bZ4X Touring
Toyota C-HR+
27Anonymous2026-09-22 13:52
Toyota should just merge with a monitor manufacturer already and start naming cars 'bZ4X3261UHSCP-W.' And just to be clear, don't confuse that with the 'bZ4X3261UISCP-W' — a completely redesigned model coming a year later with totally different internals — or with the 'bZ4X3261UHSCN-W,' which is exclusive to one specific electronics retailer in the US.
It was a good little car, but that platform had no future left in it. Even regulatory requirements alone meant the old design couldn't keep up anymore. They really needed to rebuild it from scratch, and it's a shame they waited so long to get started.
Small models are finally starting to show up now, but honestly, they're a good four years late.
29Anonymous2026-09-22 16:59
But isn't that because the lineup was nothing but SUVs priced above 60,000 euros? Habeck (the former economy minister) specifically said EVs were supposed to be 'affordable.'
35Anonymous2026-09-22 20:12
German automakers don't want to build affordable EVs. Fine — then everyone will just buy Chinese cars instead.
The fact that gasoline cars are a dead end for mass production in the long run has been obvious for 20 years now.
38Anonymous2026-09-22 19:05
Ah yes, 'e-fuels'!1!1
39Anonymous2026-09-22 20:14
Haven't heard a peep about those in ages — are they even still a thing?
Background and key points of the discussion
Underlying this report is a structural challenge common across the industry: because EVs carry a higher share of raw-material costs (batteries, above all), their profit margins stay lower than gasoline cars until economies of scale kick in. VW itself previously discontinued its once-popular compact EV, the e-Up, after failing to get a profitable next-generation model ready in time — a point several commenters raised in the thread. Meanwhile, the naming of new EV models like the ‘ID. Polo’ drew plenty of mockery for being just as confusing as Toyota’s ‘bZ4X,’ and several commenters cited firsthand accounts of 700–1,600 km trips to argue that charging stops aren’t really a major problem — suggesting range anxiety may be more about perception than reality.
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