The other green cars: there is life beyond the electric

• Feature: Electric car: everything you need to know if you are thinking of buying one
• Nissan Forum.Electrification, connectivity and autonomous vehicles will contribute 15% of Spanish GDP in 2030
• Electric cars in Europe: still an option only for the richest countries

"Next year is going to be a lot of fun," an executive from the Spanish automobile industry said since days ago. He was referring specifically to the strategies, or forced decisions, that the brands will have to take in order to meet the emission requirements set by the EU by 2021. Namely, that the average emissions of the cars they sell along 2020 does not exceed - as a general rule - 95 grams per kilometer traveled .

Above that data, they will have to pay 95 euros for every gram of excess and car. In addition, these requirements, which are already the strongest in the world, will be accompanied by another additional reduction that leaves that limit at 65 grams.

It is not a minor matter, not even in the shortest term. Suppose a manufacturer (the data can be computed at the group level, if applicable) that has sold 600,000 cars and has an average of 97 grams: it will have to pay 114 million euros of penalty.

Agencies such as Moody's have made calculations that estimate that the overall amount of these sanctions could range between 2,400 and 11,200 million euros at the level of the entire industry involved .

Tesla is the best placed in the reduction of CO2 emissions, followed by Smart and Toyota

The figure will depend on the speed at which the brands reduce the CO2 of your vehicle. Finished 2018, according to the consultant Jato Dynamics , Tesla was the best placed, since its cars - 100% electric - do not pollute anything (on the move). Second was Smart (89.8 grams / km) with Toyota in third place and first among the generalists, with a data of 99.8 grams of CO2. The trick: for several years now, almost all of its offer is based on hybrid models (gasoline-electric). After the Japanese, already over 100 grams, appeared Peugeot, Citroën and Renault .

On the opposite side of Toyota , we should also mention the Japanese Infiniti . Nissan's luxury division directly decided that it was not worth it to continue fighting in an already competitive market like the European one and will stop selling its cars from the beginning of next year.

Between one position and another, more alternatives open up. For example, reduce the range and eliminate those models that are most harmful in terms of emissions. This does not necessarily imply that they are the largest, since the weight is also weighted, which can lead small vehicles that, in addition, hardly give any profit margin. And, on the other hand, favor cars with diesel mechanics, which have better emission data.

Another option involves, as has happened in other industrial sectors, seeking an association or buying CO2 rights from builders who have them in excess. This is what FCA would have done with Tesla, although the recent agreement of the Italian-American group with PSA could change things .

Electrification, in its many forms, will be the path that most manufacturers will follow

But above all options, the electrification of vehicles will be the path followed by the majority. From a light microhybridization where electricity is unable to move the car by itself, it only supports certain functions; even the models where absolutely everything works from the energy of the batteries. In between, self-rechargeable hybrids such as those that star Toyota's offer; and the plug-ins that, although they have as the main propellant group with one of combustion, have batteries that allow them to travel tens of kilometers with zero emissions.

One of the great drivers of this electrification is that, for the purposes of calculating emissions, the legislation of the EU itself states that each car below 50 grams of CO2 will be worth two. The condition is not only fulfilled by 100% batteries (which are zero emissions) but also all the plug-ins for sale in Spain right now.

This does not mean that they are the only ecological alternatives available in order to meet the objectives of the Paris Summit by 2050. In fact, when the last PSOE Government presented its laws for decarbonization and ecological transition privileging the sale of Zero-emission vehicles, opened the door even if the latter could also be vehicles with combustion engines, provided that technology made that objective possible.

Next, we offer you a review - with its advantages and disadvantages - of those other alternatives that show that there is life beyond the electrical ones. Although some have been waiting for years .

Gas cars

CNG Seat

There are two types: those that can work with LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) and CNG (Compressed Natural Gas). In both cases, the models offered in Spain are bi-fuel, that is, they carry a combustion engine that can run on gasoline or gas, interchangeably. On average, they are about 1,500 euros more expensive, but also less polluting, both at the level of NOx (harmful gas for health) and CO2 as long as they are running on the alternative fuel.

This has earned them, for the moment, to have the ECO label that grants different advantages in terms of traffic , parking or tax restrictions , although they have already been left out of the latest purchase assistance plans, at least state. The CNG, which is called to take a significant place in the transport of goods has a very low consumption in its favor (with just over 10 euros can be traveled about 300 km), but there are barely 90 refueling stations throughout Spain , for the nearly 700 that supply LPG , also cheaper to refuel than traditional fuels.

Hydrogen vehicles

Hyundai Nexo

For almost two decades, they are called to be the future that never ends. Technically, the issue is more than resolved. These are vehicles equipped with a hydrogen tank and a fuel cell where that element is reacted with the oxygen in the air. In the process electricity is generated, which will be the one that moves the car, leaving as the only waste water vapor (H20).

Toyota (with the Mirai), Hyundai (with the Nexo) and Honda (with the FCX Clarity) are the three brands that have most commercially opted for this alternative. Many other builders have also approached it, but in a more experimental way, so that the current existing fleet is only 11,000 vehicles, although with the aim of multiplying over the next decade. The models for sale today offer autonomies of up to 600 km. and refuel in just a few minutes. But they are very expensive (about 70,000 euros) because of the cost of the battery, there are hardly four hydrogeneras in the whole country and the obtaining of hydrogen is dirty and cheap. It will be decades before it can be clean and affordable.

Extended autonomy

Opel Ampera EV

There have been, or are, of various types. The first Opel Ampera was an electric with about 63 kilometers of autonomy in its batteries. But it had a small gasoline engine that worked as a generator creating extra electricity to travel a greater distance, never to drive the vehicle (in theory). BMW also had a version of this type on the i3, which it later discontinued, and which allowed it to not rely on recharging points.

And Nissan already applies it to some of its models in Japan, in this case with a smaller battery, with the aim of implementing it throughout its range and bringing it to Europe. In addition, Renault has just announced that it will market between the end of this year and the beginning of 2020 two variants of its electric Kangoo and Master vans with a small fuel cell that, in the case of the first, triples its autonomy up to 370 kilometers.

Synthetic fuels

Brands like Audi have already produced synthetic fuels, both diesel and gasoline. And to be used in a conventional car a small adaptation would suffice, in the style of what happens with gas. In fact, Porsche considers them suitable for their classics , since it would allow them to circulate without restrictions. The vehicles that use these fuels do emit CO2 in their displacements, but since that contaminant is precisely captured to then synthesize the fuels, they would be climate neutral.

In addition, refueling could be carried out in conventional service stations and in a time equivalent to a conventional one. The problem is that its production requires huge amounts of electricity from renewable sources, almost double that required to obtain hydrogen from a fuel cell vehicle; and five more than a 100% electric vehicle park would need.

In fact, according to Bosch, current studies suggest that a pure fuel cost of between 1.20 and 1.40 euros per liter (excluding any special tax) can be achieved by 2030. And one euro in the year 2050.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

• Engine
• Seat
• Spain
• PSOE
• Paris
• Audi
• Japan
• Hybrid cars
• Motor industry
• Motor themes
• Diesel

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