Who’s afraid of the electric car? It is the title of a very interesting book written by Alessandro Macina, special correspondent of Direct Intake (Rai Tre). Eight fake news are subjected to the test of facts in a rigorous and compelling way at the same time. We reproduce here the introduction signed by the prof. Nicola Armaroli.
The book is published by Dedalo, Scienza Facile series.
OfNicola Armaroli
TOyear 2023. The best-selling car in Europe and in the world was Tesla Model Y It’s a first for a battery-powered car, it’s a first for a car from over 40,000 euros is at the top of this ranking. It’s a watershed. In Italy the news goes quite unnoticed and this is not surprising: in 2023 our country comes in last place, with a gap, for sales of electric vehicles among the large European countries. Sales are struggling to arrive at 4% of the total, while in France, Germany And United Kingdom you travel towards the 20%. In Holland it exceeds 30%.
One of the illustrations contained in Macina’s book.
Who’s afraid? There are bloggers who work full time to denigrate
Yet, in the country where nine out of ten licensed nIf they have never driven an electric car and over six out of ten have never even been in one, we can count on a very high number of experts in the subject. Ready to launch on any aspect of the topic: batteries, environmental pollution, mineral resources, car market. It’s a raging river on TV, in the newspapers, on the web. Blogger No Watts (some boast of never having driven an electric car) work tirelessly to convince the public that the battery-powered car is the rip-off of the century. I recently participated in one of the main national television programs “of in-depth analysis”. And the tone unscientific of the debate (the audience included popular commentators with a certain reputation) reached depressing levels. Never a solid number or noteworthy observation, just a raging river of superficiality and sometimes, falsehood.
Neither the ruin nor the salvation of the world: just a technological revolution
To write this book, Alessandro Macina did something normal, but which has now taken on a revolutionary character. As a journalist, he went to see for himself, you read a package of scientific reports, interviewed the protagonists. In other words, he has slipped into the mechanisms of a revolution that is developing before our eyes, even if many persist in not seeing it. On a long journey, which begins in Mercedes-Benz Museum Stuttgart, the author guides us, step by step, to discover that electric cars are neither the salvation nor the ruin of the world. They are something much simpler and more normal: a technological transition. Made possible by the invention of lithium battery, which earned the Nobel Prize for Chemistry just 5 years ago. We are only at the beginning.
Who’s afraid of replacing technology that’s 150 years old?
The glorious internal combustion engine car literally has changed the world, making it more connected, smaller, richer, more fun. And also more polluted. After 150years, has had its day and the time has come to give way. It’s absolutely normal: what other technology from a century and a half ago do we still use in the same ways as back then? Today we still listen radiobut what does it have in common with the one from 100 years ago? Yet many are convinced that the tetrad petrol-cylinder-piston-muffler it will last forever. It’s a totally irrational but widespread idea. This is a very in-depth book, but accessible to all. A formidable antidote to the miserable Italian debate on the electric car. A valuable read for those who still believe in a future of progress and innovation for Italy. And he doesn’t want to resign himself to the idea of consigning our glorious automotive industry to the archives.
Read also / Understanding the electric car with the easy guide created by Motus-e: everything in 30 questions and 30 answers
