Bid Farewell Without End

Excerpt

“In all beginnings dwells a magic force” wrote Hermann Hesse in his poem “Stages”, which could be used here as an editorial, with its themes of new starts and the continuation of what is familiar. Admittedly, many people find the often unchanging nature of life boring and troublesome, but new does not always mean better. In recent years, a kind of goldrush mentality has brought start-ups and manufacturers of electric cars flooding onto the market. They saw the new technology as their opportunity to make money. The model that worked for Tesla must surely be transferrable to other companies. This is far from the truth, as has now become clear. Of course, some new brands have become established, but the majority have either disappeared or gone bankrupt. These include Sono-Motors, the great start-up from Munich, and the Borgward brand, which was brought back to life. Even Fisker, after impressive announcements in 2023 of new models and big plans, also got into difficulties again at the start of the year and this with products that for sure stood out from arbitrariness. …