Mobility: Electric drive - yes, but ...!
DRIVE CONCEPTS Although electromobility is gradually gaining a foothold in passenger cars, combustion engines will remain indispensable for a long time to come. For commercial vehicles as well as in aviation and shipping. Today, 98 out of 100 new passenger cars still have a combustion engine - either alone or in a hybrid system. In fact, 99 percent of trucks are powered by diesel engines. Although the reputation of [...]
Today, 98 out of 100 new cars are still powered by a combustion engine - alone or in a hybrid system. In fact, 99 percent of trucks are powered by diesel engines. It is true that the reputation of combustion engines, especially diesel engines, has suffered badly in the recent past as a result of emissions manipulation by manufacturers.
However, with improved exhaust gas purification systems, car manufacturers have now shown that petrol and diesel engines can be extremely low in emissions. On the other hand, it has also been recognized that electric drives are only really clean if the electricity comes from renewable energy sources.
The origin of the energy is important
At a conference at ETH Zurich, eight speakers presented different perspectives on how the mobility of the future could develop. A comprehensive consideration of the various drive concepts is crucial for CO2 emissions. Christian Bach, Head of the Vehicle Drive Systems Department at Empa in Dübendorf, emphasized that "the overall CO2 balance is not primarily dependent on the drive concept, but on the origin of the energy used. Unfortunately, this is not yet taken into account in today's CO2 legislation."
Tax incentives set the tone
Most speakers agreed that the market would determine which drive concepts would prevail in the long term. Although tax incentives could set the tone, they could not be maintained as market-distorting measures. However, the future will certainly bring a diversification of drive systems. There is probably no silver bullet.
