I found it hard to find where the cost comes from in this article. I found this other article (in German) that gives more detail.

https://www.forschung-und-wissen.de/nachrichten/oekonomie/jedes-auto-kostet-die-allgemeinheit-5.000-euro-pro-jahr-13375828

They identified 23 factors, among them

• buying the car
• maintenance
• gas
• insurance
• public infrastructure
• pollution
• acceleration of climate change
• noise pollution
• drivers license
• public space
• impediments for non motorists

Good to know, that I should be rich, since I don’t own a car. 👍

They used the Opel Corsa which is a proper small car. I came here expecting they used a larger and more expensive car to inflate the cost. I wish I didn’t need a car but I do, I’m still not spending more than the equivalent of $15,000 on a new car.

working out the labor required to buy and fuel the car to travel 7,500 miles equated to an average speed of less than five miles per hour

I thought labor was measured in “man hours”, not “miles per hour”.