Sustainable mobility #4: Adam’s Car in Paradise

C: So, is the future green for automobiles?
T: Sure, cars need to consume less and reduce their emissions drastically. The recession is pushing towards a general downsizing in manufacturing, meaning that cars will be smaller and less expensive. Big automotive groups must come up with a way for the industry to make money with this type of product. Until 2007, every model was replaced by another one that was longer, wider and heavier. From 2008, there has been a reversal of that trend. Cars have become more compact, but without reducing interior capacity. Performance levels are still acceptable and design is now a key factor. Small cars are no longer fallback solutions but intelligent buys. Volkswagen, for example, only made minimal cars to offer customers an entry-level purchase. But for a while now, it has been developing the Up family of small cars. They have style, flexibility and can be equipped with powerful motors. The aim is to produce millions of Up! series cars, and this is a big break from their traditional approach.

C: What is the most promising type of fuel?
T: There are two main lines of research: optimise traditional fuels, or make cars electric. The latter is considered the real challenge of the future. Developing electric cars involves many newcomers – entrepreneurs from other fields, especially from information technologies and Internet. Much hope is invested in them, because these fields are more likely to produce ground-breaking innovations than the conservative auto industry.

C: Is Tesla Motors part of this new frontier?
T: Tesla is a Californian company that already produces and sells an electric roadster. It’s a project by a group of investors including Tesla’s chief executive Elon Musk, a South African who was one of the founders of PayPal, the Internet payment system. Their vehicle is based on an intelligent consideration: because batteries are still expensive, especially lithium-ion batteries, their cost would weigh disproportionately on an economy car. Instead, they used the frame of a Lotus, which is known to be a particularly light car, and they fitted it with a motor driven by over 100 small batteries. Its performance is remarkable.

C: Somewhat of an instant cult object?
T: That’s right. Its success was awarded with a 10 per cent investment in the company by Daimler (parent of Mercedes-Benz). The partnership will help Tesla come out with an all-electric sedan by 2011. The Model S, as it is called, is big enough to carry five adults and fit two children in rear-facing seats in the trunk. The Tesla models are quite beautiful. I share the design’s underlying vision that the first mass-produced all-electric car should not be a Fiat Panda or 600, but a vehicle for people who are tired of showing up in a Ferrari because they consider it old hat. Tesla is a startup company, so it’s still early to express judgment on its cars’ dependability, but they are meeting with success, especially in places like California.

C: Is there sufficient market response to justify all the investments?
T: I would say so. The interest is strong, and growing every day. J apan is at the forefront with hybrid cars. The new Toyota Prius received 80,000 orders in the first week. The car’s chief designer is an Italian, Elvio D’Aprile. He’s from Abruzzi and used to work for Pininfarina.

C: And what does he say about the splash of ugliness that the Prius continues to drag around as its unmistakable trademark?
T: He says that it’s unfortunate but indispensable, because the car needs to have a number of compulsory aerodynamic elements. It’s a result of Toyota’s wish to develop a car that is stridently different from others. Shiro Nakamura, the designer at Nissan working on an all-electric vehicle expected for 2011, believes that even electric cars need to look good. In any case, this year Toyota’s Prius and Honda’s Insight are both starting to show excellent sales figures. Other manufacturers are ready to invest, too. Mercedes made the S-Class hybrid, but it’s very bland. I think consumers can see the real nature of these automobiles. Lexus, for example, didn’t have much success with its SUV hybrid.

C: The introduction of electric vehicles on a large scale would require certain infrastructural investments. Is anything happening in Italy?
T: There are two large projects. One is by the Enel utility company in collaboration with Daimler. Enel will build a network of 400 recharging stations in Milan, Pisa and Rome, and Daimler will supply 100 electric Smart Fortwos. Testing is scheduled to begin in 2010. The other initiative is by the A2A utility company and Renault to build recharging stations in Milan. Sooner or later all the necessary structures will be built, because utility companies see big business in electric cars. That was not the case with methane gas. Everybody is looking to the electric car as a way to increase their customer base.

C: In order to sell electricity?
T: Yes. The car has a chip. Before recharging, the car’s owner is recognised. The amount of electricity tapped is billed to the owner’s home. Of course people will want to be clients of the best company. Also, this is a type of business that makes electrical companies feel very trendy, redeeming them in the eyes of eco-sensitive consumers. These companies are used to being portrayed as major culprits of environmental damage. Now they’ll be able to say (especially Enel) that all electricity for recharging automobiles comes from renewable sources. They are undoubtedly working hard on this and investing large sums of money.

C: So do you believe things are really happening in the industry of sustainable cars, or is it still trying to get off the ground?
T: There’s the feeling that something important is about to dawn, and above all, the awareness that the race is on, and whoever isn’t in the game will lose out. There might be different opinions on timing. Fiat and Volkswagen say that electric cars still need four or five years. Renault and others say that they are already in the final phase, and will begin selling dependable electric vehicles by the end of 2010. Investment in battery research is also moving forward, particularly in countries that have been having automotive difficulties over the past years, like the US. Then there are less known (but not less aggressive) manufacturers – China and K orea – who are forging ahead with new battery types because they have the know-how. They are the ones currently making lithium batteries for everyone.

C: Are we at a point of no return?
T: Yes. Insertion will be progressive, starting perhaps with small fleets controlled by companies for their employees. Gradually, the numbers will increase, but hardly by 50 per cent over a few years. However, I think electric cars will become significant soon enough, maybe with new types of purchase, like renting with an included maintenance guarantee, which would be interesting for customers because the technology is still unfamiliar.

C: Has the urgency to find sustainable solutions accelerated the research and development in automotive industry?
T: Definitely. At the start of 2009, first the USA, then Europe realised that the hydrogen solution was still too far away. Hydrogen is now seen as a long-term project requiring a different level of funding. This is how most of clean car-propulsion research went from hydrogen to electricity in the past year.

C: In this sense the automotive industry’s reaction could also be seen as an attempt to boost sales and defend itself against other types of mobility. As for sustainable mobility, the most difficult challenge is finding an alternative to the automobile.
T: Some people predict a variety of scenarios for the future of mobility, not just four wheels, but three, two or even one. The former world chief of Peugeot sustained that manufacturers like him needed to work on improving the motor scooter. People will go back to using the scooter for short distances; the sacredness of the car is waning; youngsters are no longer so interested. That’s a healthy, “non-religious” way of thinking that could produce concrete and innovative solutions.

C: What is the next deadline? Any big dates?
T: The Frankfurt Motor Show (15-27 September 2009) will feature state-of-the-art sustainable vehicles, and electric cars will be the major focus. Mitsubishi will also be bringing out an electric car soon. And don’t forget that Panasonic is now the world’s largest automobile motor producer. I’d say we’re looking at an epoch-making change. Electric cars don’t make noise. Imagine them in a city like Rome, where you get a headache just listening to the deafening noise of traffic.

C: It is the physical structure of historical cities (Italy and Europe are full of such cities) that makes the air, noise and space pollution of automobiles such an intolerable phenomenon.
T: Just think of cars with a surface of five square metres instead of ten in cities like ours. It would also be good if taxis and public transport had compulsory electric or methane motors. This would drastically improve the quality of air and life in cities.