SWI swissinfo.ch/Christian Raaflaub: What does the future hold for electric vehicles?

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Swiss strategy
What does the future hold for electric vehicles?
By Christian Raaflaub
This content was published on January 9, 2019 2:31 PM Jan 9, 2019 - 14:31
Chinese boy in a blue car

China Is leading the world towards an electric car future
(Robyn Beck / AFP)

Switzerland has a new strategy to promote greater use of electric vehicles, but the Alpine nation remains far behind leading electric mobility pioneers such as Norway. The Swiss plan comes amid questions about how environmentally friendly electric cars really are.

Sales of electric cars in Switzerland increased by 40% in 2017, compared to the previous year. But the 4,929 electric vehicles sold only represented 1.6% of total vehicle sales, according to the Federal Statistical Officeexternal link.
Graphic on passenger cars sales in Switzerland
(swissinfo.ch)

This compared to Norway, where 20.8% of cars sold that year were electric. By 2025, only electric or hybrid vehicles will be allowed on Norwegian roads.

But Switzerland has new ambitions when it comes to electric vehicles. Last December, the Swiss Federal Energy Office published its “Roadmap for electric mobility 2022external link”, a strategy document which contains plans to increase the share of rechargeable tourism vehicles (electric and hybrid) on Swiss roads to 15%.

Electric vehicles will thus become an “integral part of road traffic in Switzerland” by 2022, the document says. The roadmap was drawn up by over 50 organisations and firms from different sectors, as well as federal, cantonal and communal officials.
Scarce service stations

One of the main challenges for the expansion of e-mobility in Switzerland is the limited network of electric service stations, whose scarcity prevents such vehicles from travelling long distances. The federal authorities therefore want to build 160 high-speed recharging points along main roads. They also say electric cars should no longer be classed as higher-weight vehicles due to their heavy batteries.

In general, the authorities say they want to change people’s view on electric cars and “create positive feelings” about e-mobility.
Behind China

Other countries, such as China, are already much further down this road. In view of the serious pollution problems in Chinese towns and cities, the country wants to discourage new car purchases; new vehicle number plates are only distributed in a lottery system. In 2013, the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung reported that a Beijing driver had to wait 72 months to get vehicle plates. The situation is much worse today, according to swissinfo.ch’s Chinese journalists.

But China wants to spur demand for alternative-energy cars. This year it plans to further reduce electric-vehicle subsidies on electric cars and push automakers to innovate rather than rely on fiscal policy, Bloomberg reports.

Electric cars developments are moving ahead at speed. From 2019, Volvo – owned by the Chinese group Geely – plans to produce only electric or hybrid vehicles. And this week, the American electric car manufacturer Tesla opened a huge factory in China.

Europe is losing pace. Several electric car models are in the pipeline, but “it won’t be before 2021, when Volkswagen makes its big offensive into e-mobility, that the German group manages to dethrone Tesla in Europe”, Ferdinand Dudenhöffer, a German economist and transport expert at Duisburg-Essen University told the Handelszeitung newspaper.
Environmental impact

Meanwhile, a growing number of specialists are casting doubt on the environmental benefits of battery-powered vehicles. The NZZ am Sonntag newspaper recently wrote that making new batteries causes more environmental damage than the manufacture of combustion engine cars. It said a study commissioned by the Swedish Energy Agency showed that a small electric car becomes more energy efficient than a regular petrol or diesel car after 30,000 kilometres (18,641 miles), while a bigger electric car only does so only after 100,000 kilometres.

The ecological impact of manufacturing car batteries is also overlooked, argue some experts. Battery production requires rare minerals and damages the environment. The NZZ said plans to dispose of millions of used electric car batteries were “as vague as the questions surrounding nuclear waste when the first nuclear power stations were built”.
electric cars
Electric cars
Switzerland aims to scale up e-mobility
This content was published on December 18, 2018 1:59 PM


Translated from German by Simon Bradley, swissinfo.ch
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There are 6 comments on this article.
Write a comment...
"TheDon commented on the content at 09 January 2019 18:37".
TheDon 09-Jan-2019 18:37
VAG already have ridiculously expensive all electric cars available via its Audi brand. We have an i3 which is also very expensive new
Write an answer...
"Lynx commented on the content at 10 January 2019 14:18".
Lynx Lynx 10-Jan-2019 14:18
If I was allowed to swop my petrol car for similar sized electric one, for no extra cost, then I would do so. At current prices, there is no chance of me switching now. However, I might consider a hybrid, which seems to be a good compromise, as there is no need find a charging station.
Write an answer...
"J Beaulieu commented on the content at 14 January 2019 01:59".
J Beaulieu 14-Jan-2019 01:59
Tesla has announced the new assembly plant in China, it is not yet built.
Write an answer...
"Gaz commented on the content at 16 January 2019 03:05".
Gaz 16-Jan-2019 03:05
Science daily 18/12/18 they got a magnesium battery to cycle 2500 times with no deterioration thats a seven plus year life, great for renewables but still we have not addressed the issue of the mandating of passive solar design principles into law, being the point its not the buildings its the prior urban planning not accommodating passive solar design principles. .... which in turn provide better outcomes for active systems which provides better outcomes for renewable which provides a better built and unbuilt environment which means a better cleaner healthier more comfortable life
Write an answer...
"Gaz commented on the content at 16 January 2019 03:06".
Gaz 16-Jan-2019 03:06
Lean electrolyte a game changer....
Write an answer...
"David Jones commented on the content at 11 March 2019 11:50".
David Jones 11-Mar-2019 11:50
It seems in many cases, when some specialists criticize batteries they ignore that the term "battery" simply means a storage device for energy. There are many, many chemistries and the current rare mineral battery types that have established themselves in EVs are only the beginning of this transition. It is almost certain that a different type of chemistry which does not require as many or even any rare earth mineral will eventually replace the current lithium based tech.

Why some people choose to ignore the long term technological versatility of battery powered transportation is hard to comprehend. Or is it that many media outlets cannot distinguish between studies designed to assess the current state of specific technologies versus the long term technological potential of a system & it's overall technology development roadmap for the next 10-20 years?

Long term is the only element that counts when tackling anthropogenic climate change and transportation capability because if your solution is great today and ends up at a dead end in 30 years, it was a pointless endeavour to begin with. ICEVs are a dead end any way you put it, they are unlikely to be competitive with economically batteries if their energy source has to be created rather than extracted and sooner or later this will be the case. That is in addition to anthropogenic climate change damages related to ICEV use.
Write an answer...
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