Of the repercussions of the Dieselgate on Volkswagen there has already been a lot of talk these days. The collapse of the shares on the stock market of the Wolfsburg giant, the farewell of the untouchable (at least until last week) Ad Winterkorn, the one who had doubled the company's turnover in a few years, and the maxi-fines that loom threatening all horizon, and which risk cutting off the group's legs, are just the tip of a much more multifaceted iceberg.
The scandal of the 11 million Volkswagen-registered cars they mount the Tib EA 189 device (which allows, in the event of verification by the authorities, to lower the quantity of poisons released into the air by 40 times) risks having very serious repercussions on all future choices in the automotive sector. Diesel, petrol, hybrid solution, electric car: what will be the future of engines?
THE DECLINE OF DIESEL
Analysts and experts are convinced that Dieselgate will not mark the funeral of diesel but will start it decline. The diesel car, whose diffusion has grown dramatically in recent years, reaching a share of over 50% in the Eurozone, risks losing ground, cornered not only by a quantity of emissions which, in any case, it is much greater than what was found by tests carried out in the laboratory but by standards that will inevitably become more restrictive in Europe as well.
The manipulation of the tests has caused ecological damage which is still difficult to estimate, but which opens up to more general considerations on the diesel engine, the most polluting of all (although with modern CO2 techniques it produces less) and the one which requires the highest costs to reduce harmful emissions. The end of the illusion of a completely clean diesel creates a new space for major investments up electric and hybrid cars, thus opening up to clean technologies, fields in which Toyota, as well as other Asian brands such as Kia and Hyunday, started well ahead of the others.
ELECTRIC CAR ON POLE
But also in Europe there are many manufacturers who have launched themselves on the electric car market, such as the Renault which, with the best-selling two-seater Twizy, has conquered a large slice of the European market, thanks also to a much more accessible price than its competitors. If the France has been moving for some time, the Norway it already travels with 18% of registered electric cars and is the most advanced European country in this field.
In Germansto bmw, with the i3, launched the top-of-the-range, high-performance electric vehicle, with a directly proportional price. The German brand has also recently entered into a agreement with Avis to provide the exclusive rental of six electric vehicles in Rome and Milan. A way to bring consumers closer to this new technology, especially in big cities. The US car rental company also plans to increase its share of electric cars to 10% of a fleet of 25 vehicles by 2017.
Investment in the electric car today seems to be a necessary innovation, already signaled by the growth trends in sales prior to the scandal, but which, at the moment, especially in certain countries, is still limited by some problems which, at an infrastructural level, condition the increase in the circulation of electric cars.
In Italy we are talking, at the moment, about 3.500 circulating vehicles, of which 1.000 since 2014 alone. An evident growth, slowed down, however, by the lack of infrastructure for recharging vehicles and by high purchase prices, a higher initial expense repaid only in the case of vehicles with significant mileage.
OFFERS, COLUMNS AND RATES
There are several utilities involved in creating the necessary network of charging stations for electric cars, including Hera and A2A but the busiest at the moment is Enel which started well in advance and can count on 1.600 charging stations spread throughout the country. Furthermore, according to the latest news circulated, the utility led by Francesco Starace is preparing one by the end of the year new turnkey offer with a charge on the bill to offer three types of electric car of your choice (not only the Smart but also the BMW i3 and another top-of-the-range car) in addition to the home recharging system, with a new consumption rate.
For a greater future expansion of the electric car, however, it will be necessary to implement incentive measures aimed at lowering the vehicle purchase price. At the moment, in fact, the savings obtained on fuel allow for a return on the investment only in the case of very high-mileage vehicles, such as taxis and buses.
Other interventions will also be needed, such as the development of public charging infrastructure network and the streamlining of costs for those who want to have a private charging point. The Competition law, under discussion in Parliament, facilitates the installation of columns in petrol stations themselves. Above all, however, a remodeling of the will be needed electricity tariff.
At the moment the rates for car refills are the same as for home use; the structure today is strongly progressive and therefore affects the highest consumption. The Energy Authority is already working on it: the new tariffs should be ready within the year. The future must also start from here.
