If or when the price of oil shoots up to €1000 per barrel they'll do it, they'll get the stuff out of the North Sea. A barrel of oil, as every oil drummer knows,  is equivalent to 42 liters, so if you have an economy car that consumes €4.2 liters / 100 km and whose fuel tank has a capacity of 42 liters, you will be able to drive 1000 km for 1000 euro. That may seem exorbitant but it's less than half the taxi fare from Frankfurt Airport to Frankfurt city centre (9km, costs between €20 and €30) Even if you factor in depreciation costs, taxation etc, taking a taxi today in Germany is cheaper than driving a Twingo after the big enchilada. People will pay almost anything to drive a car rather than walk, cycle or use public transport. After all, even today they pay almost anything to take a taxi.