Porsche sold more electrified cars in Europe in 2025 than pure gas-powered cars • Hacker News Board

Re: Porsche sold more electrified cars in Europe in 2025 than pure gas-powered cars

#631

Post by morshu9001 » Tue, Jan 20, 2026, 4:31 PM UTC

criddell wrote: post #568

morshu9001 wrote: post #304

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not that many Americans are car enthusiasts. The most popular cars have been basic commuters for decades.

I guess it depends on how you define car enthusiast. A lot of Americans spend far more on their vehicle than they need to and so I would classify them as enthusiasts even if they couldn't tell you how many cylinders their engine has.

I would define car enthusiast as someone who at least knows how many cylinders. For the purpose of the EV discussion, the people who don't know that aren't the people who want an ICE.

Re: Porsche sold more electrified cars in Europe in 2025 than pure gas-powered cars

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Post by blackoil » Tue, Jan 20, 2026, 4:33 PM UTC

woooooo wrote: post #487

fooker wrote: post #360

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's the other one https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathu_La_and_Cho_La_clashes

"The Defence Ministry of India reported: 88 killed and 163 wounded on the Indian side, while 340 killed and 450 wounded on the Chinese side, during the two incidents.[6][7] According to Chinese claims, the number of soldiers killed was 32 on the Chinese side and 65 on the Indian side in Nathu La incident; and 36 Indian soldiers and an 'unknown' number of Chinese were killed in the Cho La incident.[8] " War might be o…

Personnel die in those "fistfight", so not comical but also not a war.

Re: Porsche sold more electrified cars in Europe in 2025 than pure gas-powered cars

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Post by hydrogen7800 » Tue, Jan 20, 2026, 4:41 PM UTC

NetMageSCW wrote: post #546

melenaboija wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Then I think you see an early indication not just of electric car dominance, but of the (very potential) rise of China as the premier automotive super power. It’s done man. Americans are stuck in ICE engines because they’ve been told they’re “car enthusiasts” while the Chinese have been developing EV technology for years. Meanwhile, European makers are stuck not knowing what to do, make Americans happy or compete w…

Car enthusiasts never disappear, but they will be a small part of the market just like always.

Maybe it's naive of me, but I think the enthusiast will still have a place in the future, just as they can now own cars without 3-point seatbelts, catalytic converters, traction control, ABS, airbags, crumple zones, etc. all of which have been mandated for many decades.

Re: Porsche sold more electrified cars in Europe in 2025 than pure gas-powered cars

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Post by vee-kay » Tue, Jan 20, 2026, 4:44 PM UTC

sehansen wrote: post #550

vee-kay wrote: post #478

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When your ICE vehicle breaks down on the highway, you can get it towed and repaired at any half-decent car mechanic. If you don't like his cost quote or his service/repairs, you can get your car taken elsewhere (usually the mechanic can get it running in a short while, unless it is a major breakage problem) for a second opinion or service/repairs. When your EV breaks down, you won't even bother to get it towed, becau…

That has nothing to to with EVs per se, as many modern ICE cars are just as impossible to repair for non-affiliated repair shops. And some EVs, e.g. the Nissan Leaf, are quite easy to work on for independent shops.

Except for the electronic subsystem, almost everything else in an ICE car can be repaired by a competent non-dealer mechanic shop.

I do agree though that modern ICE vehicles are becoming more and more complex, with electronic subsystems replacing manual subsystems, so non-dealer mechanics may struggle with such complex work and may even reject the work saying it's out of their ambit. This situation is getting aggravated as car manufacturers are pushing for hybrids, which have the partial advantages & disadvantages of both ICE & EV worlds.

But for any EV (including the Nissan Leaf), repairs & advanced diagnostics on the electric-drive components (which is basically the main component of the EV), health checks on the battery (other main component), or repairs involving high-voltage systems, are typically out of the competency and ambit of a non-dealer mechanic, unless the mechanic shop is a dealer-certified EV-trained service center.

However, the routine mechanical work — things like brakes, suspension (e.g., sway bar links, shocks), tires, wheel alignment, cabin filters, etc. — can generally be done safely and correctly by a good independent mechanic, whether it be for an ICE vehicle or an EV.

Re: Porsche sold more electrified cars in Europe in 2025 than pure gas-powered cars

#635

Post by fooker » Tue, Jan 20, 2026, 4:45 PM UTC

NoGravitas wrote: post #577

fooker wrote: post #367

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think we are going to be driving hybrids in large numbers for several decades until there's a new battery technology that triples energy density over the state of the art now. It can be invented sooner of course, technology prediction never really works.

The smartest direction for someone manufacturing for the US market right now is probably EREVs aka serial hybrids - pure electric drivetrain, onboard gas generator. Only use gas when you're taking the kids to Grandma's, or when some obstacle prevents you from charging normally. Ford seems to be going in this direction, possibly a little late.

I agree, this is likely the technology for the next few decades. Maybe with some supercapacitors or something like that thrown in.

Electric motors are far more efficient at producing mechanical energy than a engine+transmission combo is. But at the same time, batteries suck.

Re: Porsche sold more electrified cars in Europe in 2025 than pure gas-powered cars

#636

Post by kobbs » Tue, Jan 20, 2026, 5:04 PM UTC

pjc50 wrote: post #562

thomas_witt wrote: post #407

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Being a customer for years, I have to politely disagree. Design is obviously a totally personal matter of taste, but as they have made many iconic shapes, apparently they're in the broad opinion not too bad at it. The main difference is driving. I have driven many cars in my life, from very cheap to very expensive. For me personally, Porsche is in my opinion comparable to using a Mac - they're one of the few who "get…

> Try driving 240+ km/h This is an entertainingly German-centric answer.

After all, this is what the performance oriented cars by all German manufacturers are made for. Even a VW Golf GTI will happily cruise at 250 km/h.

Re: Porsche sold more electrified cars in Europe in 2025 than pure gas-powered cars

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Post by joe_mamba » Tue, Jan 20, 2026, 5:07 PM UTC

lostlogin wrote: post #431

joe_mamba wrote: post #352

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, and? They're different tools for different purposes. Such a disingenuous comment.

> They're different tools for different purposes. Getting to work and running local errands?

ANother disingenuous comment.

One for commuting long distances versus one for commuting short distance. ignoramus

Re: Porsche sold more electrified cars in Europe in 2025 than pure gas-powered cars

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Post by joe_mamba » Tue, Jan 20, 2026, 5:09 PM UTC

david-gpu wrote: post #382

joe_mamba wrote: post #352

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, and? They're different tools for different purposes. Such a disingenuous comment.

Disingenuous? Plenty of people live without a car.

>Disingenuous?

Yes, it's disingenuous to insinuate through that comparison as if bicycles are replacements for cars, or that all car trips can be replaced by bike trips. Both are good for different kinds of trips. Hence why cars still have a place, even in bike dominated Netherlands, and why your comment was in bad faith and why Ic alled you out for it.

>Plenty of people live without a car.

Plenty of people also live without a home, that doesn't mean it's a good situation to be in.

Re: Porsche sold more electrified cars in Europe in 2025 than pure gas-powered cars

#639

Post by malfist » Tue, Jan 20, 2026, 5:11 PM UTC

jonkoops wrote: post #520

malfist wrote: post #517

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please share how unions sabotaged automation efforts. As far as I can tell, unions are losing every fight these days.

Unions in countries like Germany and France are much more powerful. Especially VW is extremely unionized, half of the seats on the Supervisory Board are allocated to worker representatives. These employee representatives are elected or selected by the workers (usually via union and works council processes), so VW employees indirectly influence board decisions through these seats.

That doesn't explain how unions have sabotaged automation

Re: Porsche sold more electrified cars in Europe in 2025 than pure gas-powered cars

#640

Post by joe_mamba » Tue, Jan 20, 2026, 5:14 PM UTC

vladvasiliu wrote: post #558

Loudergood wrote: post #479

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Like me, you're not buying new cars on that budget anyway. 6 years ago when my ICE car became unreliable I bought a used Chevy Bolt for less than $20k. They're closer to $10k now. Plenty of range. People aren't being asked to dump their current reliable vehicles. What we want is for people to think about EVs when it's time to replace them.

> People aren't being asked to dump their current reliable vehicles Depends on where the people live. In France, that's just about what they're asked. If their car is "too old" (reliability doesn't matter, only age), they may no longer drive in Paris and some other major cities on weekdays from 6 AM to 8 PM or something like that. https://www.france.fr/en/article/crit-air-anti-pollution-veh...

I have an ICE car and I agree with restrictions like that. You don't need to be Jeff Bezos to own a car that's at least Euro 5 and doesn't heavily pollute the air. If you own some 20+ year old beater that smokes like a chimney, get fined, we don't have to tolerate your health hazard mobile.