Bearzi (Beng) looks at the future of mobility: electric cars in the city, hybrids over long distances
"The current technology is not able to guarantee the actual convenience from the point of view of environmental sustainability, as well as economic, for fully electric mobility solutions"
TOLMEZZO (UDINE) – Electric cars or cars powered by the usual fuels, future trends in the global automotive industry can be glimpsed in Carnia. Beng’s CFO, Matteo Bearzi, looks to the future of the electric car, after a recent trip to China: “Full electric in the city and over short distances. For the rest, hybrid solution, with electric and petrol power< /strong>. The current technology is not able to guarantee the actual convenience from the point of view of environmental sustainability, as well as economic, for fully electric mobility solutions”.
For Bearzi, at the helm of the family company specialized in the design and construction of luxury lights, “to think of having completed the transition by 2035, according to the deadlines currently set, is decidedly unrealistic , because the ten years that separate us from that goal represent too short a period of time for the design and operating methods of the automotive world, which on average takes four years from the idea to the creation of the models”, prefaces the entrepreneur. Together with the temporal aspect, however, there are technical elements that do not suggest a real take-off of the electric car market in the immediate future.
“In essence – explains Bearzi – current technology is not capable of providing solutions that are truly effective with respect to the objective, namely sustainability”. “A lot of energy is needed to produce each battery, much more than the battery itself then saves us; there is a problem, then, linked to the life of the battery itself: the mileage it guarantees is perfect for short-distance travelOn the other hand – continues Bearzi – it becomes problematic if to travel 700 kilometres, for example from Tolmezzo to Turin, I have to stop to recharge, with a stop of at least half an hour”. The pace of life and work, he adds, “does not allow us to use 8 hours to cover a distance that can normally be covered in 5 hours”.
Last but not least, Bearzi also addresses the problem that may arise with respect to the stability of the national electricity distribution network, if the massive diffusion of electricity also corresponds to a massive demand for energy from the network in certain time slots. “Already today there are cases of demand overload with temporary detachment – he explains – Let’s imagine that many motorists plug their car into the socket at home in the evening to recharge the battery. Is the system equipped to handle it?”. The diffusion of photovoltaics for self-consumption is not yet widespread enough to ensure problems generated by a large demand for energy in certain periods. “I just returned from a trip to China – he says – and there mobility has already taken on clear connotations: in the city all vehicles are electric, while on long distances the solution is hybrid: internal combustion engine powered by petrol or ethanol that charges the battery for electric mode. I consider that this mix represents, for now, the most viable power supply. I believe that full electric could be a reality in about thirty years”, he concludes.