Electric cars: the future or the past?
The figures seem to cast doubt on the revealed truth that comes from Brussels: although perhaps – if someone manages to solve the apparently intractable problems they raise – electric cars are the future, one thing is clear: they are not the present. It may even end up happening to them as in the past because, let’s not forget, electric cars lost the first battle they fought against combustion cars during the first third of the 19th century (https://correccioencatala. cat/com-estructura-text-catala/).
Toyota’s opinion
While the debate settles, some brands are taking positions. One of them, moreover, should be taken into account: it is, specifically, Toyota, the second manufacturer in the world after Volkswagen. what do they say Speaking for now is Tomoya Takahashi, president of the brand’s competition division, Toyota Gazoo Racing: “There may come a time in the future when engines are banned, but internal combustion engines are not bad, the enemy is carbon,” he says. That Toyota, the brand responsible for the first commercial hybrid – the Prius – must be taken into account. This, precisely – hybrids – is what they want to continue building. And the market proves them right: “With hybrid technology we can reduce carbon emissions and we can also use carbon-neutral fuels,” he says.
Repsol
Repsol, meanwhile, already has answers to the concern generated by carbon. Like Tkahashi, they consider combustion engines not a danger in themselves. In fact, they know that if an affordable neutral fuel is achieved, there will be no problem for cars with conventional engines to continue to run. They already sell it at their gas stations: they make it with agricultural waste. Is it a modern version of the almost forgotten biodiesel? Actually, yes. Will the electrics this time twist the arm of the combustion engine and avenge their defeat in the 19th? As long as the administrations continue to prioritize them, it can, but if they are not able to find solutions to their three big problems (price, deterioration of batteries and insufficient charging points) it will be very difficult. In fact, if he vetoes sales of new combustion-powered cars, it’s more likely that the mobile fleet will start to look more like that of Cuba than that of the neighborhood where Elon Musk lives.
