Are combustion engines better for the climate?

Are combustion engines better for the climate?

In studies about the environmental friendliness of mobility, newly developed and produced electric cars are often compared with vehicles with gasoline or diesel engines. The catch: If you compare both vehicle variants as new vehicles, you also assume that combustion engines have to be produced first. From the perspective of the KFZ-Rockstars, an association of over 300 independent and branded vehicle workshops in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, a huge fleet of vehicles is overlooked: cars that have already been produced and that have been providing their owners with loyal service for years - and are far from being discarded.

“In the rarest of cases, the topic of e-mobility is discussed openly and objectively in comparison to existing combustion engine technology,” says Robert Merz, the founder of KFZ-Rockstars. It is therefore not surprising that many studies provide the following result in direct comparison: combustion engines are more environmentally friendly in production, while electric cars score highly in operation. A study commissioned by the FIA ​​and the Austrian automobile club ÖAMTC comes to this conclusion. However, it only focuses on the greenhouse gas emissions of a compact car produced last year. Robert Merz criticizes another, crucial point in this study: "The makers can obviously look into the future. The reason why their electric car balance is so positive is because it is firmly assumed that the electricity mix in Germany will change by 2035 - towards significantly more renewable energy sources. "If that really happens, then everything that is necessary in terms of energy and raw material expenditure for the expansion of renewable energies would have to be included in their overall ecological balance will be.”

Sensible and sustainable repairs are the vehicle rock stars' answer to these issues and to the question of resource-saving mobility. You don't need tax gifts or government new purchase bonuses, i.e. money that is urgently needed elsewhere. “Our member companies work every day with passion and conviction to maintain the existing vehicle fleet professionally - i.e. in compliance with all emission values ​​and safety aspects,” says the KFZ-Rockstar founder. This secures jobs in the trades and in the automotive parts industry as well as the mobility of employees. “The longer the service life of a vehicle, the better its ecological balance,” says März. The automotive rock stars rely on innovative and well-thought-out repair solutions such as specific cleaning procedures for engines and transmissions, measures to protect the body and chassis or the use of improved wear and spare parts that eliminate known weak points of vehicle manufacturers. “If we then look again at the ecological balance of such vehicles after mileages of 350,000 or 400,000 kilometers, the tide turns very quickly,” says Robert Merz.