{"id":34710,"date":"2025-07-02T20:37:37","date_gmt":"2025-07-03T00:37:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=34710"},"modified":"2025-07-02T20:37:54","modified_gmt":"2025-07-03T00:37:54","slug":"an-american-ev-in-paris-driving-planet-europes-regulated-byways","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/an-american-ev-in-paris-driving-planet-europes-regulated-byways","title":{"rendered":"An American (EV) in Paris: Driving Planet Europe’s regulated byways"},"content":{"rendered":"

Paris<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 Merging onto Paris\u2019s suburban ring roads, my mid-size Cadillac Lyriq electric vehicle felt supersized surrounded by subcompacts, motorbikes, and small panel vans. Unlike Detroit\u2019s I-96 and I-75 speedways, we moved like a school of fish, toeing the speed limit in an orderly procession out of France\u2019s biggest city.<\/p>\n

Welcome to Planet Europe.<\/p>\n

With gas prices at $8-a-gallon (1.80 Euros per liter), mandated in-car speed warnings, speed cameras everywhere, narrow city streets, and the European Commission banning internal combustion engines over the next ten years, the automotive landscape in statist France is a very different place than open-road, low-cost energy USA.<\/p>\n

\"Like<\/p>\n

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Like Tesla, Cadillac sees an opportunity to gain market share under Europe’s EV mandates. The Lyriq EV is priced at $95,000 in Paris compared to $65,000 in the US.<\/em><\/div>\n

Henry Payne<\/em><\/figure>\n

No wonder Cadillac\u2019s European product lineup is dramatically different than in its U.S. backyard. There are no V8-powered Escalades or fire-breathing CT5-V Blackwing hellions here. Or Ford Mustangs, Dodge Challengers and Chevrolet Corvettes for that matter. Full-size pickup trucks, the best-selling vehicles in the Unites States? Nowhere to be found.<\/p>\n

But General Motors\u2019 luxury brand sees paydirt here as it re-invents itself as the electric Standard of the World. European autos, analysts say, are increasingly luxury goods as entry-level vehicles become unaffordable \u2014 opening windows for premium, American EVs and heavily subsidized Chinese makes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the electric mandates, small cars are going away. Cars are something for the rich,\u201d said President Emeritus of the World Car of the Year awards and veteran writer Jen Meiners, who splits his time between Europe and the United States. \u201cPeople are being pushed into public transportation. Even Smart cars and VWs have become unaffordable with the regulations.\u201d<\/p>\n

The once-popular, three-cylinder, gas-powered Smart Fortwo microcar cost about $15,000 in 2015 (adjusted for inflation) before the brand switched to electric power in 2018, increasing the price to $25,000 by 2024 when it was discontinued. Smart has moved on to larger, pricier EVs starting at $42k for the Smart #1 subcompact crossover.<\/p>\n

The VW Golf GTI, the only Golf hatchback sold in the United States (starting at $34k), sold for $33,000 here 10 years ago. Today it stickers for about $45k, a 30% increase.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/figure>\n
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The Cadillac Lyriq EV in front of the Eiffel Tower.<\/em><\/div>\n

Henry Payne<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The EV market in Europe, as in the United States, has taken hold among affluent, urban buyers. Cadillac has planted its flagship showroom in the heart of Paris, and there is not a gas-powered car in sight (save the Cadillac V-Series.R Le Mans race car on display).<\/p>\n

My rear-wheel-drive Lyriq Sport EV starts at $95,500 in France, compared to $65,000 in the US.<\/p>\n