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But we'll be there

On several occasions we have written and said that private mobility of the future, to be really ecological, needs an "energy mix". That is to say there will not be a single winning solution, but there will be covered for at least thirty years, sometimes in parallel, different paths before reaching the ecological goal of sustainable new technology for the next century. Among these options, gaseous fuels will be certainly competitive, being already available today and ecological long ago; hybrid and electric vehicles will be more and more utilized as well as new battery technologies but we would like to recall here only when Staffetta Quotidiana Petrolifera wrote on October, 25^th 2011. Commenting on the figures for the first half, "in the first six months of the year 103 electric cars were sold to private users, 0.01% of the Italian market. Things are not much better in Europe: 5,222 electric cars, as insignificant if compared to classic over 7 million cars registered in the same period. Even the government incentives granted by various countries appear to be ineffective: according to a study from the British company Jato, in Denmark, where the value of the bonus cuts and other measures including more than € 20,000 per vehicle, in the first half, only 238 electric cars came out from dealerships. In neighbouring Sweden, there are just more ten units respect Spain. Germany leads the rankings, followed by France and Norway, while Italy is the tenth. "The market will not take off quickly - Gian Primo Quagliano said, director of Centro Studi Promotor - in 2020, estimates say 10% of sales. But it is necessary to reduce the cost of batteries and invest in infrastructure.”

This would be enough to dispel any doubt, thinking about not for partisanship, but because it is a real scenario that will be repeated for many years. I agree that many elements will slow the spread - for all the lack of a European standard for charging, envisaged only for 2017 - but now electric cars are still not understood or appreciated by the users. Specific incentives, allowing Government, are coming, but they will only be an eco-friendly flagship very little used.

Therefore both users and operators have to look with greater confidence to the current situation and prospects of the automotive gas market. These categories do not have to expect contributions or incentives: There's not a snowball's chance in Hell, now. We must roll up our sleeves and offer products and economic and quality services. The audience will appreciate. The users certainly are more attracted by the economic advantage rather than the ecological and we all regret that our institutions do not reward as due to the undeniable ecological characteristics of the automotive gases. But we believe that when this crisis will end - and sooner or later will end up - there is still a field ready to further develop. In the seventies, Francesco Guccini with Nomadi sang a cult song when a chorus of strong voices sang, “We will not be there when you see a fireball in the sky.” We like to better believe that we will survive the catastrophe.

Ugo Nazzarro