Hmm I dunno. Are people using a stone-cold pan or something?
You can brown (I presume this is what most recipes mean when they say "caramelise") onions brown fairly quickly in ~5 mins or so on a good induction hob and normal (i.e. not absurdly weighty) day-to-day saute pan. It was equally as fast on gas hobs when those used to be a thing too.
A non-induction electric hob of course is a total different matter as they are total utter garbage, so if they are using those then yeah it probably just takes 10 minutes to get to the right temperature to cook at all!
Maybe the onions you bet in Europe are easier to cook? Wouldn't surprise me if there is some different variety that is common here but not there etc.