Awareness, solidarity and orientation toward constant upgrading of production standards. These are just some of the key words that emerged during the latest episode of “Electric Chats” with Luca Mercalli and our CEO Alberto Stecca.
Luca Mercalli and his experience with electrical
That of traveling in an EV is a choice that, he tells us, Luca made a good 11 years ago. His Peugeot iOn was probably one of the very first electric registrations in our country and still accompanies him today.
Based on his direct experience as an electric driver, we asked him,“Will the switch off of the endothermic engine have a significantly positive impact on the genuine reduction of CO2 emissions?” In all likelihood yes, but only and only if we are able to take positive action as key players in the change.
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Challenges for truly evolved mobility
The first node we addressed during the “Electric Chats” meeting with Mercalli concerns the challenges of manufacturing. The construction of electric cars, right at the building stage, must be geared toward sustainability. This means designing batteries composed of recyclable materials that do not impact too aggressively and negatively a tomorrow: both in terms of battery disposal at the end of life and in terms of resource extraction.
To disregard this would be to make a mistake belonging to the past, and we would end up polluting, assaulting the subsoil in the hunt for hard-to-find raw materials as well as constantly feeding the cost of their extraction, production and final marketing. In other words, we will end up, once again, full of CO2 and with our pockets emptied by the crazy prices of raw materials.
Another factor that needs to be worked on as a priority is legislation. The goal must be a legislative apparatus that stimulates and supports renewable energy in the construction of clean energy plants, incentives, bureaucratic facilitation, and in general anything that can be helpful in reducing the negative impact on the environment.
Evolved mobility renounces the mistakes of the past
The need to renounce the mistakes of the past is another very important point touched upon by Luca Mercalli during our discussion. The ecological transition and the shift to sustainable mobility must not follow but must, rather, abandon the channels traveled by traditional mobility. One example? The car as a status symbol.
Projecting into the future means untying oneself from stale concepts such as the need for ownership of a super-performance car, as well as perhaps even the concept of vehicle ownership itself. Instead, to be preferred is the expansion of the rental network tomorrow by also taking advantage of the opportunities given by digitization. Thus encouraging the provision and on the road of self-driven electric vehicles that reach the user and are available to them for a time limited to the mileage they need to get to their destination.
Ecological transition becomes priority
Another major mistake not to make again? Stop not considering transition a central issue within the global debate. Where by central we also mean liable to be considered a spending priority to the detriment, instead, of what actually happens: with ease funds are found to fuel conflicts and with extreme difficulty funds are found to support communities and solidarity even, indeed especially, energy.
Community is a concept that has taken on great value in Luke’s reflection. In a sustainable World there can be no inequality, no place for sovereignty or supremacy struggle. Only by nurturing a community, solidarity and unity vision of the world’s population can we really talk about the future. A generational pact that does not see the present as an endless horizon from which to extract every resource, making the evolution of life after us impossible. This is probably the value, the deeper meaning of the strategies in place to deal with climate change.
Transition is not just energy transition; it is courageously embracing another way of life. Switching off the endothermic engine is but one of the solutions.
