Iran War Drives Fuel Prices and Boosts the EV Market

The fallout from the war between the US and Iran is likely to shape energy and fuel prices for a long time. That is the assessment in episode 78 of the car podcast "Die Hupe". Normal operations in the Strait of Hormuz are unlikely to return soon, the hosts argue, because too much infrastructure was destroyed. Many facilities will need years to run as they did before.

Even a diplomatic solution today would not end the problem quickly. According to the hosts, the global economy would still be dealing with the restrictions well into the 2030s.

Limited room for politics, a boost for EVs

German politics can do little about this, the discussion concludes. Measures such as the returning fuel discount (Tankrabatt) are costly stopgaps meant to calm voters and save consumers little over the whole course of the crisis. The US is better cushioned thanks to its own unconventional oil and gas production, yet its population is also suffering.

The fossil price crisis is fueling demand for electric cars, since electricity costs are usually far less volatile than fuel prices and the marginal cost per kilometer is lower. A caveat remains: the 2021 gas price crisis showed how fossil gas prices can feed through to the electricity market.

Leapmotor B03X: strong hardware, unfinished software

Host Clemens recently drove the Chinese Leapmotor B03X. He praised its clean build quality, generous interior space for compact exterior dimensions, front-wheel drive with good traction and an unusually tight turning circle for a front-driver, which makes it nimble in town. Buyers must accept some quirks, though: a loose accelerator response, light steering and software that feels unfinished by European standards. The car does not remember the chosen regeneration level, and entering and starting is cumbersome, because the key card must be held to the left exterior mirror and then to a reader on the center console, where it interferes with the Qi charger. Updates could fix some of this.

Ferrari 12Cilindri Manuale: a simulated stick shift

Ferrari's 12Cilindri "Manuale" answers demand for a manual gearbox, but it is not a true manual. Building one for the 830 hp car is hard because of clutch forces, flywheel masses and separate homologation. The car instead uses the dual-clutch transmission of the automatic version, with clutch pedal and gear lever acting only as data inputs. Ferrari reportedly invested a huge number of engineering hours in making the simulation convincing. Sebastian likes it; Clemens sees no advantage over the existing dual-clutch gearbox.