[blackwasp]

Following on the news of France and England banning the sale of conventionally powered cars by 2040, German Chancellor Angela Merkel hinted at an eventual ban of the same in Germany. While the exact timelines have not been revealed, she said that the auto industry must correct the mistakes they made - hinting at the emissions scandal.

The automobile industry is an important contributor to the German economy and an export earner. Volkswagen, the world's largest automaker (in terms of sales) and other leading companies like Mercedes, BMW, Porsche are all Germany based.

Just this month, the German Government and automakers agreed to modify engine software on over 5.3 million diesel vehicles to reduce their emissions. Germany has also set a target of reducing CO2 levels significantly (over 85-90% of current levels) by 2050. While pollution from vehicles may not be a large contributor, the German government is facing rising pressure to take measures to curb air pollution.

All these steps are taken in an effort to repair the damage caused by VW's emission scandal over 2 years ago. The future of the German auto industry - which provides over 8,00,000 jobs - has become a topic of debate due to all the recalls and the future ban on conventional powered cars. Chancellor Merkel has assured the employees that it is important to preserve the jobs and maintain the industry's strength.

While the contribution of the automobile industry is significant to the German economy, they have been relatively slow to adopt the electric technology.

Source - Reuters

Link to Team-BHP News

[i74js]

Germans have always behaved like leaders. The renewable energy initiatives in the country has resulted in a major paradigm shift on reducing GHG emissions from the power sector and when the dieselgate was out in public, the German Government decided not to defend the wrongdoings of VW (atleast in public, I am not aware of anything that might have happened behind the curtains).

The move on a paradigm shift in mobility with band on fossil fuel based cars would again be taken very seriously by the auto sector in Germany compared to the statement made in India around shifting to electric vehicles by 2030.

It will be interesting to see how matured / developed markets embark upon this journey of moving away from IC engines.

[Zed]

Enforcing eCars as the standard for personal transportation only makes sense in places like Germany that are transitioning towards clean power generation. I cannot fathom the logic of an India or a China moving to eCars to protect the environmental when electricity is generated in conventional (polluting) power-plants and distributed over inefficient grids

[sushantr5]

Originally Posted by Zed

Enforcing eCars as the standard for personal transportation only makes sense in places like Germany that are transitioning towards clean power generation. I cannot fathom the logic of an India or a China moving to eCars to protect the environmental when electricity is generated in conventional (polluting) power-plants and distributed over inefficient grids

Transition to eCars and Migration to renewable energy sources, these two changes can happen simultaneously.

We are not going to do this in overnight as this takes considerable time. Instead of doing this one by one, do it side by side.

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by Zed

I cannot fathom the logic of an India or a China moving to eCars to protect the environmental when electricity is generated in conventional (polluting) power-plants and distributed over inefficient grids

Sorry to be abrupt. This is an over worn hackneyed statement. Offer a better solution. Should India and China wait 40 years to complete the transition to green power before moving cars in that direction.

By the same logic we should not be manufacturing cars at all till we have solved our very considerable and more fundamental toilet problem or poverty problem. In a managing a country things have to be run or acted upon in parallel. If we don't start now it will 2085 before fuel powered cars go off the roads.

[Zed]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

Sorry to be abrupt. This is an over worn hackneyed statement. Offer a better solution. Should India and China wait 40 years to complete the transition to green power before moving cars in that direction.

By the same logic we should not be manufacturing cars at all till we have solved our very considerable and more fundamental toilet problem or poverty problem. In a managing a country things have to be run or acted upon in parallel. If we don't start now it will 2085 before fuel powered cars go off the roads.

No offense taken. My statement, in reference to the title of this thread, is on account of the fact that eCars discussion among european policymakers is driven by enviromental concerns. And in this context there is no value to an eCar if it uses electricity from a conventional grid as the pollution could potentially be higher than an efficient oil/gas burning automobile.

We can discuss prioritization of national issues in a seperate thread

[theMAG]

The circle of automotive life! The pioneer of the internal combustion engine and its applicability in automobiles has now decided to look beyond. Europe appears to be the leader for future mobility, judging by current development.

[sri_tesla]

Originally Posted by Zed

Enforcing eCars as the standard for personal transportation only makes sense in places like Germany that are transitioning towards clean power generation. I cannot fathom the logic of an India or a China moving to eCars to protect the environmental when electricity is generated in conventional (polluting) power-plants and distributed over inefficient grids

Actually, India already moving towards clean energy, especially in the last 2-3 years than many people are aware. India added more solar renewable energy in the last financial year (2016-17) than the thermal power. In FY 2016-17, India added 5,525 MW of solar power and 5,400 GW of wind power.

Clean energy revolution is already started in India. With electric vehicles it will only accelerate as residential rooftop solar will increase. Earlier many people were reluctant to go rooftop solar as the ROI (return on investment) is slow. With EVs the solar rooftop initial costs will be easily justifiable.

[libranof1987]

Not sure if the earlier news article covered this. The race to abandon fossil fuels, especially in heavily industrialized and developed countries such as Germany isn't going to have a fairy tale finish.

Imagine, the day the US announces such a similar plan, a lot of oil rich countries will heave of sigh of relief

Wouldn't John Lenon be proud.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned on Sunday against a swift abandonment of diesel cars after a series of emissions scandals, saying the fuel is still needed if climate change targets are to be met.

Speaking at a pre-election town hall event on RTL television on Sunday, Merkel called on German carmakers, all of which have been caught using workarounds to cheat nitrogen emissions tests, to work to re-establish public trust in diesel.

http://www.news18.com/news/auto/dies...l-1496967.html

[srishiva]

Will be mighty interesting to see which companies survive or thrive due to the move to eCars. How will component suppliers like Bosch handle such disruptions ?

LG has made a big move in establishing an eCar component manufacturing plant in Detroit. Most of the components (major ones like battery, motor, charger, inverter...) in Bolt are from LG.

We will see emergence of new component suppliers and could be from any part of the world. Auto manufacturers might still be able to sustain their markets owing to history, emotion attached to certain brands.

[abhishek46]

Originally Posted by srishiva

Will be mighty interesting to see which companies survive or thrive due to the move to eCars. How will component suppliers like Bosch handle such disruptions ?

No problem!
Bosch will simply stop making spark plugs and Fuel Injectors & focus on other things.
For example, they will ramp up manufacturing of Electric Motors (By using parts from their Washing Machine Division )

Suppliers who deal with non-engine parts, like Headlamps, Windshield, Seats, Plastics, locks, rubber components etc do not need to worry, as they will be used in Electric Cars as well.

[sgiitk]

This is why I say that both the petroleum industry and IC engines may be doomed in the long run. Also, the engines (or rather motors) have far fewer parts, and servicing needs.

[srishiva]

http://money.cnn.com/2018/02/27/news...ies/index.html

Hope this kind of autonomy exists and is used by different states or cities in India to tackle pollution.

[volkman10]

Diesel collapse gives automakers carbon headache - Carbon foot print increases. Europe faces this in figures of CO2 of 2017.

Revival of Diesel Engines ?




Best selling brands ranked by average carbon-di-oxide emissions

While diesels produce more toxic nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulates than gasoline engines, their efficiency has been instrumental in cutting greenhouse gases. As consumers shun diesels, more carmakers are on track to miss tougher EU carbon dioxide goals taking effect in 2020-21.

The accelerating demise of diesel, long used by carmakers to boost fuel-efficiency, is undermining their plans to meet looming European Union CO2 goals and avoid big annual fines.

Others are clinging to the hope that the image of the latest Euro 6 diesels may yet be rehabilitated, and their fortunes restored.

The profitability of plug-in hybrids is below that of cars with pure combustion engine

Link

[volkman10]

Mixed reactions to diesel curb.

European carmakers are keen to stick with diesel as an effective and profitable way to meet regulatory demands to cut carbon dioxide output until demand for zero-emissions electric cars takes off.

VW :

EVs 'not enough' -We need diesel to get to the CO2 goals.

Electric vehicles in many cases won't keep frequent drivers happy

1. VW predicts 'renaissance' for embattled diesel cars.

Diesel will see a renaissance in the not-too-distant future because people who drove diesels will realize that it was a very comfortable drive concept

Once the knowledge that diesels are eco-friendly firms up in people's minds, then for me there's no reason not to buy one

We need diesel to get to the CO2 goals

2. Toyota is getting rid of diesel versions of its cars this year, offering only two hybrids and one turbocharged gasoline engine in its redesigned Auris model.

3.Ford Motor still backs diesel but sees it disappearing in some segments

We still see a future for diesel, although on some smaller vehicles I do believe it will progressively disappear

4. Daimler, the maker of Mercedes-Benz, has said its CO2 fleet emissions rose last year, as buyers opted for larger cars.

The rules of the game in the EU in relation to climate protection and emissions goals on CO2 are so challenging that governments cannot do without diesel

Source: