During the discussion, Kolář confessed to the audience: “I don’t like to fly from Prague to Brussels.” That’s why he drives an electric car, just like MEP Niedermayer.
Electrodetection
One of the prominent members of TOP 09 asked the audience a question: “I was interested in the contribution of our leader, Mr. Vondra, who wrote that Škoda Auto had apparently been investigated. This refers to the article that Mr. Vondra sweated out. Colleague Niedermayer said here that some politicians are afraid to defend the euro, so it is the same with the ban on internal combustion engines. Few people are not afraid to say that especially modern, high-pressure ones produce dangerous particles, nanoparticles. And it’s even worse than the old ones, because if you inhale it, we can get it out of the lungs, but these new nanoparticles cause cancer. When it first came out, they say nitrogen oxides are estimated to kill about 10,000 people a year in Germany, while the deaths from particulate matter produced by combustion engines are 60,000. It gets into the lungs, it causes respiratory disease . So my question is, when our leader advocates internal combustion engines, will we find the courage to say the risks. Internal combustion engines, especially in cities, are a big problem. On January 1 of this year, if I am not looking west, but east, Warsaw created an emission zone of 37 square kilometers and sets an example for countries that are like us and that are not afraid of restricting the entry of internal combustion engines into cities. It is the only solution to protect the population,” said a member of TOP 09.
If we fall asleep, we will not wake up
Luděk Niedermayer answered. “If we don’t do something quickly, the children will not have as good a time as we are living, and it is difficult to estimate what will happen,” he began, referring to the environment. And he talked about emissions and their sources. “Agriculture and forestry. There’s a little something going on there, but it’s not ideal. Leakage through emission allowances is also large, but it has decreased by 60 percent since 1990. The third sector is buildings and transport, and there is a reduction of 40 percent. If we agreed that we don’t want to complicate the life of car owners, then there will be more combustion engines and more emissions will be produced, so we would have to have fun where there will be less emissions. Buildings are one of the most expensive measures. It has benefits when you make the investment, but it sucks. Exchange in transport is therefore necessary. The pressure on businesses that are in the industrial business that consumes energy is really big,” he said.
A car like a light bulb
“The problem with transport is that we cannot run it on wheels, on the railway. In addition, we drive bigger and heavier cars. It’s clear to me that we already have the technology to solve this. I drive my Volkswagen 620 kilometers to Brussels every month,” confessed the MEP, defending his position out of satisfaction with his electric car.
“It takes me twenty, maybe thirty minutes longer than without a break. Moreover, not all automakers would like to continue with internal combustion engines. I think I’m in pretty good contact with the car companies,” he stated. And he made it clear that he sees no substitute for electric cars in terms of a “carbon-free” economy.
“Synthetic fuels will enter the field, but only a fraction of users will use them. The biggest problem is that the combustion car is not a means of transport, but a heating plant. Most of the energy you put in there is exchanged for heat. And we will use less of that energy for the journey. This is poor management. This is how light bulbs were, which exchanged most of the energy for heat and not light. This is the first problem and it will increase with the use of synthetic fuels. It is simply necessary to change the fuels that exchange their energy for heat. You produce fairly clean energy, exchange it for synthetic fuel with a fairly large loss, and then burn it in internal combustion engines with a loss of up to 60 percent. Synthetic fuel will probably have its place in maritime transport. The way I see it is that if someone has the money and wants to drive a Ferrari, they will pour synthetic fuel into it and unfortunately most of it will be harmful, but at least they will save money. But it will be hellishly expensive, absolutely not affordable for personal mobility. But we will want personal, accessible, cheap mobility. So it’s not for me,” he concluded. But he sees an exception for the very rich.
“But the path through synthetic fuels is open. If it is calculated correctly, and this is a matter of legislation and there is agreement on this, it will allow the production of internal combustion cars after 2035. With the fact that it will have to be technically ensured that you cannot pour the normal, today’s ordinary gasoline into it. And that will be a hellishly expensive form of mobility, and it will also be mobility that, if there is a lot of it, will put pressure on the fleet, because the demand for synthetic fuel will be even greater. I understand, if I were the owner of BMW, which produces premium internal combustion cars, which de facto have no competition, then of course I would vote against the end of internal combustion engines,” said the MEP.
Stop wondering
“Skodak needs to be clear about what to do. It will certainly produce cars with internal combustion engines for other markets, just like other car companies. But I don’t see the logic in the Czech Republic producing cars for Africa. So, I think, production will be localized. So I see a perspective in the production of clean cars. This topic has become very politicized. It was even discussed whether this would be part of the election programs of some parties,” added Niedermayer.
Ondřej Kolář then stated: “My personal opinion is that the experience of driving in an electric car is completely different from that in a gasoline car. And the acceleration is incredible. I was at the Smoke Free City conference and it was said that everything smells. But it is not only wonder, but also noise. And those nanoparticles are really dangerous. If we want to have clean cities and nature, we have no other choice. Electric cars are burdened with a number of prejudices. Because they burn for a long time, they are dangerous. I think it burns absolutely amazing when it comes down to it. These are irrational arguments just like the arguments against the euro. Here we make up arguments why it can’t work, even though we see that it works. And we try to placate ourselves that this is some kind of tool of the devil. I can imagine that when the first locomotives started to run, people were shocked that it was something terrible, that it was the end of the world. When there were first cars, a lot of people also said that it was impossible, that it was a tool of the devil. And the same thing, when space flights started, a lot of people were worried about that too. And it’s the same with electromobility. It’s just something new, and a lot of people are like that when there’s something new, they don’t want it and reject it. They don’t want to live with it because they don’t want to learn new things. Such people are among us, and we must prove to them that it is possible, and everyone who drives an electric car will change their opinion very quickly. It just takes half an hour longer to get somewhere when you’re driving 800 kilometers, so that’s negligible.”
According to members of TOP 09, the offer of electric cars is already considerably more financially friendly, the latest citroen is said to cost only 600,000 crowns.
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author: Václav Fiala
