Karl Geiger - "No normal person will drive the Cybertruck" - what a professional importer thinks about the Tesla SUV
Mr. Geiger, more and more American manufacturers, both new and old, are launching electric versions of successful models - such as the Hummer or the F-150 - onto the market. And now the Cybertruck has been addedwith great fanfare . How is this change making itself felt at your company, one of the largest import vehicle dealers?The interest is definitely there - right up to the point where people take a closer look at the vehicles. As soon as it comes to the hard facts, such as towing capacity or payload, customers then go for the classics. Another important feature, especially now in winter, is the short range. And with this dreadful Cybertruck, Tesla has not kept its word on paper in this respect. First it was said that the truck could easily manage 500 miles, now according to Tesla it's suddenly only 320. That doesn't inspire confidence.
Yet the other key data for the vehicles don't look so bad. According to Tesla, the Cybertruck can load 1.1 tons and tow almost 5 tons, which I find hard to believe. A large Chevrolet or Dodge has a payload of 900 to 1100 kilograms. And they weigh around 2.5 tons. So how can an even heavier car have such a payload? The Cybertruck already weighs over three tons empty.
If you don't load the Cybertruck too much, it falls under class B. Whatkind of license do you need to drive the car?However, due to the very high basic weight, you will very quickly exceed 3.5 tons. You would have a little more room for maneuver with the old driver's license. But above a certain payload, the SUV would be a truck and would require the corresponding driver's license.
What do you think of the Cybertruck in general?Well, I have to say that I'm not an electric fan at all. And as far as the truck is concerned, I don't think a normal person would drive one. Absolutely unnecessary. The truck is so unbelievably ugly, I wouldn't even drive it as a present.
A car is always a small work of art for me.And I don't particularly like any of the normal electric cars. The Ford Mustang Mach-E is still the most beautiful in my eyes.
Now, beauty is subjective, but I don't hear many good things about the electric cars around me. Of course it's fun to press the pedal a few times on a 1000 hp Hummer, but even that quickly becomes boring because it doesn't play a role in everyday life. Other strengths count there. And when I hear that my friend's Tesla manages maybe 250 kilometers in winter, I lose interest in these cars.
Doyour customers want electric vehicles from the USA?As I said, there is interest, but orders are rare. We have now sold two Ford F-150 Lightning to Austria, because there are such incredibly high taxes on high-horsepower combustion engines, which are waived for electric vehicles. We've also sold two Hummers, but I'll soon have one of them back in the yard.
What happened?The new car is broken. The buyer had a lot of fun pedaling the heavy 1000 hp car at maximum acceleration from a standstill - and now the front axle has disintegrated. We don't yet know what will happen to the car. We have to clarify all that. Normally we put the car on a ship and then it goes back to the USA. But as soon as I send one of my e-vehicles out to sea, I don't sleep anymore.
That sounds dramatic,do you remember the ship on which electric cars were probably also on fire? That shook me up and I wanted to find out from my insurance company what would have happened if it had been a car from my fleet.
Andthe shipping company told me that if my car was identified as the cause, I would be liable. For the whole ship. And the insurance policies only ever cover a few million. If that were to happen, I'd be broke. The risk is simply far too high. I'm now afraid of importing electric cars.
How do you rate the chances of getting a Cybertruck to Germany and being allowed to drive it here?The Cybertruck has no chance in Germany. At least not in its current form. It starts with the lighting system and I'd bet that the weight won't work out in the end either. You have to measure everything properly again here and then you quickly get a surprise. But I don't think that's even the biggest problem.
Because that would be ?look at the front. In the USA, there are different requirements in terms of pedestrian protection. It's impossible to drive like that here.
What would you have to do to be able to drive the car in this country?For the moment, we have to fall back on our experience in various EU countries with other pick-ups that cannot be registered ex works. We would probably have to rebuild the entire front end - perhaps with soft rubber? And then there are many tests that the vehicle has to pass. In the end, you end up with a very expensive individual approval, which doesn't really pay off at all.
How much does that cost?15,000 euros is the price for an individual approval, where we know what to do and pass the approval at the first attempt. For a car like the Cybertruck, where I can see so many sharp edges at a glance that I get dizzy, it's considerably more. The front will have to be completely rebuilt, otherwise it won't pass the test. I have no idea what they were thinking.
Elon Musk himself said that the Cybertruck wins in all collisions - without explicitly mentioning people or cyclists. He probably meant cars - but the statement stands.Elon Musk is a very good businessman in my eyes and skillfully addresses his target group with such statements. In the end, however, he probably fills his pockets here, collects all the subsidies, pays no business tax and we are left footing the bill. You don't believe that these cars have any durability worth mentioning. They're all scrap metal that we'll have to dispose of at some point at great expense.
What makes you think that?I'm building schools in Africa - currently the third one. I met a professor there whose family drives an old Mercedes-Benz Stroke Eight. The thing is ancient, but in fabulous condition. It is maintained and cared for and gets people from A to B even in this desperately poor country. I don't see electric cars there - how could I? You can't charge them without electricity - if the batteries even last that long. I've already told you about my friend's Tesla - not only is the range decreasing, but the initially poor quality is also becoming more and more noticeable. These are not cars for eternity.
And yet you see them in large numbers on the road -that's what you mean. Take a drive through the posh suburbs of Munich. Not so long ago, there was a GT3 in the garage and a Tesla outside the door - that has completely changed again. If anyone still has a Tesla, it's behind the gates and the Porsche is on show.
Doyou notice that in your sales?People come to me who were never interested in a V8 before but now desperately want one. We buy up almost everything we can get - and it doesn't sit for long. Corvettes drive off the lot here all the time. And now that Dodge has announced that it no longer wants to build the big engines, the big collection of models is starting. Petrol and diesel engines keep us alive, while electric vehicles only cause problems.
But it has to go on somehow, and it will. I think that we will end up with fuel cells or alternative fuels in the long term.
Is the end of your business model in sight?That depends on the regulations that await us now. For cars without a COC, i.e. European Union type approval, it has already become almost impossible. A simplified COC can help, but then the number of possible registrations in the EU is limited - and if this is ignored, the manufacturers have to pay a fine. Nobody wants that, of course.
I've been doing this with passion for 45 years now.But our business has become very unsettled and you don't invest much anymore because it can be over from one day to the next. You just muddle through. But it's been a great time so far and I wouldn't want to miss it.
Read also:
Have you heard about the plans of Elon Musk to export the Cybertruck to Europe? Although Karl Geiger is skeptical about the electric car market, he mentioned that Tesla's Cybertruck might face challenges in Germany due to regulations, particularly regarding front-end safety requirements and weight limitations.
What is your opinion on Elon Musk's business strategies in promoting Tesla cars and electric vehicles in general? According to Karl Geiger, Elon Musk skillfully addresses his target audience and collects subsidies while leaving others, like him, to foot the bill for the potential environmental and economic consequences of the recycling and disposal of used electric vehicles.
Do you think German car manufacturers, such as Karl Geiger's distribution company, will be able to compete with the growing dominance of electric vehicle brands, like Tesla, or will they eventually transition to electric vehicle production? Karl Geiger is of the opinion that fuel cells or alternative fuels may be the long-term solution, but he also highlighted that his business has become unstable due to the uncertainty surrounding regulations and the end of traditional gasoline-powered car sales in Europe.
Source: www.stern.de
