The HY-KERS may be a hybrid rather than an all electric car, but the arrival of an experimental 'wired' Ferrari at the Geneva motor show this year must have caused a sinking feeling among petrol heads. They wouldn't spare a second for an electric Volkswagen, also on show in Geneva, but even a car put together by Ferrari's racing division must surely lack the 'vroom' factor that excites the boy racers eagerly awaiting the 2010 Formula 1 season.
Ferrari's vehicle was one of more than 60 models on show at Geneva "developed to use energies other than petroleum". In one sign of the times, the show saw the inauguration of a Green Pavilion, "dedicated to vehicles developed to reduce fuel consumption and automobile-based pollution".
While most of the 'green' cars that made it to Geneva are concept vehicles rather than anything that you can buy, a few really could make it into the showrooms. VW, for example, says that by 2013 it will have electric cars in "high volume production". The company promises that it will become "the leader in CO2-neutral mobility", boasting that "starting in 2013, the high-volume Golf and Jetta models of the Volkswagen brand are expected to dominate the hybrid and electric vehicle market."
VW's plans are much more likely to have a real impact on the environment than cars that sell for six figures and come with a yearly insurance bill that cost more than most of us pay for our vehicles. But do we really have to coin new labels to describe the notion? VW has taken to using the tag "e-mobility" to describe its roadmap for the brave new world of electric cars.
The consulting business Frost & Sullivan (F&S) reports in its take on the Geneva show that electric and hybrid vehicles were everywhere. However, it also warns that, while electrification "can pave the path towards sustainable mobility" the success of electric cars "hinges on several issues such as educating the consumer on zero-emission vehicles usage; building an infrastructure for charging; providing clean energy sources; policies that support the economic, environment and societal interests in a comprehensive way".
F&S also showed that there is still mileage in the old gas technology. Fiat, which happens to own Ferrari, showed off the "world's greenest engine" in Geneva: "an eco-friendly twin-air two cylinder engine".
Lest anyone think that Fiat is fighting a losing battle, and that petrol is on its way out, a recent study by Ea Energy Analyses shows that, pushed to its limits on range and speed, an electric car "will be heavier; it will require more energy; and, hence, emit more CO2 than will the diesel car and only a little less than the petrol car."
Throw in these doubts about the real benefits of electric cars, even when they come from an analysis "prepared for the Danish Petroleum Association" and it would seem that it will be quite some years before the internal combustion engine disappears from the Geneva show.
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