Electric vehicles are highly debated nowadays. Discussions are always good, as long as they are not driven by prejudices.
When I started reflecting on the decarbonization of public transportation years ago, I was in a tech-skeptical period of my life. Initially, I thought I was finding good evidence that EVs were not more sustainable than petrol-fueled vehicles. However, I was reading very few articles and only looking for data that corroborated my prejudice. Over the years, I became more careful in processing information, and I gathered more and more evidence that private mobility must transition to electric.
I recently found an excellent talk that presents numerous compelling reasons why petrol engines are obsolete. Even if you are an expert, you will likely discover one more reason to support the electric transition that you didn’t know before.
The talk is by Nicola Armaroli, a top researcher at the CNR (an Italian national research body), and it was hosted by the INFN (the Italian astrophysics research body).
In summary, he proposes the advantages of EVs in private mobility. He also supports the need for a paradigm shift in mobility towards a more intense use of public transportation. Additionally, he explains why “alternatives” such as hydrogen and e-fuels are not viable and inefficient. All his claims are supported by data.
Finally, he completely flips our point of view by asking us to engage in a mental experiment: watch it, it pays off!
He also shows how naval and aerial transport are nowhere near a sustainable option since, currently, only fuels carry the right energy density ratio for long-distance travel.
My only complaint regarding the presentation is the verve with which he addresses the skeptical and some missing links in the reasoning that may help people with less expertise or skeptical people that require a careful demonstration of some of the claims. Science communicators should pay more attention on these aspects. The wide presence of skeptical or conspiracy theorists is partly attributable to the lack of care in science communication for their arguments and tone.
Besides that, I believe that Nicola Armaroli, being a chemist, does not put enough emphasis on the engines and takes electric motors for granted, reducing an electric car to merely a battery on four wheels. Understanding the differences between an electric motor and an internal combustion engine in converting energy into motion would greatly help people understand why electric vehicles excel in terms of sustainability, simplicity, and longevity.