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Report "The Car of Tomorrow: fuel and electricity"

Report "The Car of Tomorrow: fuel and electricity"

15/06/11

Vincent Chriqui, Director of the Centre d'analyse stratégique and Jean Syrota released the report of the Centre d'analyse stratégique and the General Council of Industry, Energy and Technology "The Car of Tomorrow: fuel and electricity "

The automotive system as it is built over the twentieth century is no longer sustainable. The depletion of oil resources, the necessary reduction in emissions of greenhouse gases, congestion of our cities, while the incentive to rethink, especially as the global car fleet continues to expand, fueled by strong growth emerging countries.

One approach is to review the use we make of the car, developing car sharing and car sharing, promoting wherever possible
public transport or cycling. These "new mobility" were the subject of a recent report by the Center for Strategic Analysis. A second approach would impose a more radical break: the abandonment of the engine, big oil consumer, the benefit of the electric motor. The working group chaired by Jean Syrota mission was to study the probabilities of such a revolution, while most automakers are engaged in a race for innovation in this field.

Obstacles abound. There is firstly the price, models of electric vehicles is still relatively expensive compared to their thermal equivalents. Above all, autonomy is their Achilles heel in particular with the constraint of frequent recharging. Currently, there is no battery on the market both cheap, reliable technically, with considerable autonomy and a long life. Laboratories actively working and a number of tracks seem promising futures, including lithium-air batteries. The use of electric vehicles could well grow gradually, first in niche markets - corporate fleets, transit vehicles or postal services, for example - and more broadly, as and that innovations technology allow.

These vehicles will have the great merit of helping to reduce pollution in our cities. Of course, as the report points out, we can not really describe them as "zero emission". An electric car does not pollute when driven, but the overall environmental balance must take into account the production of electricity consumed (as well as used for the manufacture of the battery) and therefore depends on the mode of power generation in each country .

As for the internal combustion engine vehicle, it certainly has not exhausted its room for improvement. In the 1950s, a big American car ingurgitait 30 liters of petrol per 100 km, a Citroen DS in the 1970s was still drinking 12 liters over the same distance, our modern hatchbacks merely 6 liters ... The engine should still see nearly double its energy efficiency by 2030. The downsizing , direct injection, the electromagnetic valve control should halve CO2 emissions. These ways of improvement will be critical in the short-medium term: according to manufacturers, the car engine should still represent almost 90% of sales in 2020.

This would imply a gradual electrification of the vehicle thermal. Systems " stop and start "off the engine when the car is stopped and then restarted (or, in an improved version, the cut below the threshold of 10-20 km / hour) in congested areas, these systems reduce the consumption of 20% to 25%. Hybrid vehicles, which combine an internal combustion engine and an electric motor (it is being operated at low speed), are also expected to grow, initially on the high end market.

Governments can accelerate the transition in several ways. It is obviously desirable to invest in long-term research, including lithium-air. Through the interplay of incentives and regulation (with the purchase or use) it is also possible to promote all-electric vehicles but also hybrids. Finally, the public is only able to establish standards and regulations that will govern the development of infrastructure for electric vehicles of tomorrow (standard plugs and charging stations).

The big sedan road and electric will be maybe not tomorrow. However, our urban environment could quickly accommodate light electric vehicles, two, three or four wheels, that will enhance our understanding of travel. The Chinese and circulated more than 120 million electric bikes a few years ... It is clear that the forms of mobility are likely to change profoundly, France and the world in the years
to come: this report n ' has no other aim than to help prepare and accompany this development.

  • Mission President: Jean Syrota
  • Coordinators: Philip Hirtzman (CGIET) and Dominique Auverlot (CAS)
  • Speakers: Stephen Beecker (CAS), Alan Bryden (CGIET), Johanne Buba (CAS), Caroline Le Moign (CAS), Felix Von Pechmann (Mines Paris Tech) with the help of Gaëlle Hossie (CAS)
  • With the participation of the Directorate General of competitiveness, industry and services (DGE)

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Jean-Michel Roullé
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Tel. 04 42 75 61 37 jean-michel.roulle@strategie.gouv.fr

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