The Europeans who think they can remain faithful to internal combustion engines
Only the Americans run with conviction towards the electric. Japanese brands are nagging and some European manufacturers say they are in favor of technological neutrality to continue producing engines. The battery market, in fact, is in the hands of the Chinese
Not only Japanese are the automotive brands most reluctant to embrace the electric, completely abandoning the old internal combustion engines. In Europe, doubts are also growing. The reason is obvious: while the US is quickly setting up a supply chain that makes the future EV automotive industry totally autonomous, especially from Asia (chips are struggling more, hence Washington's attention to Taiwan's independence. which is the main producer), Europe cannot keep up.
US REMAINS FAITHFUL TO AUTO EV
Up to now, about 80% of the rare earths used in the US hi-tech and auto industry were imported from China, which boasts a production of 120,000 tons (2018 data), one of the highest in the world ahead of Australia (20,000 tons ) and the United States, in fact (15 thousand tons). The Biden administration, after signing a new law that will finance the internal semiconductor sector with 52 billion dollars, also intends through the Inflation Reduction Act , to force the big brands in the sector to create an internal supply chain, if they want to have access to the market of the 50 states. In the latest package of anti-inflation regulations, which did not fail to make Korea, Japan and the EU grumble, stringent limits are placed on who can receive US subsidies for the production of electric vehicles, effectively forcing the foreign brands to invest billions to make cars and batteries in the States, using components made in the USA .
THE PROBLEMS OF THE EU
In the Old Continent it will not be as easy to break free from Chinese dependence which, in a world that is once again divided into two opposing blocs, East and West, could soon even be a subjection . With us it was the number 1 of the MiSE, Giancarlo Giorgetti , to reiterate the question again in recent days: "it is necessary to make a reasoning that goes beyond the ambition to make a green transition towards a more sustainable world, but which also takes into account of strategic missions, for example where the components that are used in the electric car come from, so as not to find ourselves tomorrow in exactly the same situation with China, as we are today with Russia ”. And this "also taking into account the reality of our manufacturing, our economic system and the many workers employed in this sector".
Giorgetti , also recently, admitted the difference of views between Rome and Brussels: “we have negotiated, we have obtained small results. What is positive, in my opinion, is that in recent times this sort of non-contestable doctrine has been questioned: there are car manufacturers who have retraced their steps and have understood that the right approach is technological neutrality. There is not only electricity but also other ways to achieve the objectives of environmental sustainability ".
This is why, after the Japanese auto giants, even in Europe, the semiconductor crisis first (according to a research conducted by Allianz Trade, the four-wheel sector has already lost an added value of 50 billion in 2021 due to chips alone. ) and the winds of war between East and West then, are pushing more and more brands not to tie their hands and feet to the transition to the electric. According to the Politico newspaper , Volkswagen's recent change of direction would reveal the will of the historic brand to follow a less extreme line but one that is indeed more moderate.
We know that Herbert Diess, as CEO, had made several mistakes that had gradually reduced his scope, especially in his dialogue with the unions and that his removal was only a matter of time, so it is difficult to argue that it was fired for his green ideology, but it is also true that that was the basis of the blue-suit protests, given that the electrification plans he had presented involved heavy restructuring and even heavier layoffs. Similarly, the investigation highlights how his replacement, Oliver Blume , has always left the door of his workshop open to other green solutions, such as alternative fuels. It seems little, but in reality this option would allow German industries to keep intact the supply chain that today assembles internal combustion engines and, above all, would not force the country's brands to turn to Chinese companies that manufacture EV batteries for cars.
Meanwhile, in the middle of summer, Volkswagen unveiled a new petrol engine: the 1.5-liter turbocharged petrol TSI Evo2. Initially, this four-cylinder will only be available with an output of 150 hp and will only be fitted to the T-Roc and T-Roc Cabriolet. These first models will be followed by other cars by the end of this year with further variants of the 1.5 TSI Evo2 turbo.
The most interesting aspect of the matter is not only that VW continues to invest in endothermic, but that, according to some sources close to the company, this new family of TSI Evo2 engines should also have been designed to run on synthetic fuels obtained from energies. renewables, a feature that could make internal combustion engines last longer. TSI Evo2 has also been designed to be the 'base' of various hybridization levels, so as to support Phev systems with overall power up to 272 Hp.
If we exclude the CEO of Stellantis, who has already expressed his skepticism on all possible occasions, there is another big European that continues to be suspicious of electricity as the only solution to achieve the goal of zero emissions : Renault. Just a few days ago the CEO of the Group, who should soon present the industrial plan that goes into detail of the separate divisions for EV engines (for Europe) and endothermic engines (for less industrialized countries) Luca de Meo declared : “Technological neutrality would be needed on emissions”. The brand, which intends to become 100% electric, will not reserve the same treatment for the subsidiary Dacia, which currently has only one electric model, Spring, which represents 12% of its orders.
"Renault will try to be the champion of electric motors, but this has a risk," said CEO Denis Le Vot on the sidelines of a presentation in Le Bourget, near Paris. “This is also the reason why Dacia exists. Depending on the speed of conversion of the market to electric motors and customer appetite, Dacia is here. The two can coexist intimately, ”he said. After all, de Meo always stated that with EV engines it will be more difficult to produce cars for all budgets, hence the decision to allocate the economic brand of the division to endothermic. However, Dacia plans to offer a first hybrid model in 2023.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/smartcity/le-europee-che-pensano-di-restare-fedeli-ai-motori-endotermici/ on Sun, 02 Oct 2022 07:17:02 +0000.