Mobility: with what we will be on the road

Professor Bernard Wenigger, Head of the Institute of Engines and Vehicle Technology at the Vienna University of Technology, takes a sober view of the debate about phasing out fossil combustion engines.

Anyway, the issue Electricity production. As long as coal and gas-fired power plants generate electricity, e-cars will not be zero-emissions: “We must not forget that 82 percent of primary energy consumption worldwide is still fossil: oil, coal and gas.” In Austria, the share of fossils is also approximately 70 percent. The energy transition requires the complete replacement of this fossil part and energy savings.

How will mobility evolve? Based on Driving license classes The expert says:

• in Motorcycles E-drives would only make sense for city vehicles if the electricity was clean and the car could be charged easily. Large and heavy motorcycles will have to switch to e-fuel in the future.
• In the car The electric motor has top priority as long as you’re mainly driving average daily distances – but again only if the electricity is “green” and there’s a network connection. “Otherwise a fuel cell is an option and of course the ‘green’ combustion engine with e-fuel.”
• a truck Up to 7.5 tons in distribution applications – as in a vehicle: electric or fuel cell. Longer distance e-fuels.
• passenger buses: “A matter of range required. Wiener Linien is moving in an electric direction, only for longer public transportation routes to hydrogen with fuel cells or to combustion engines powered by hydrogen or e-fuels. To do this, they are building their own hydrogen infrastructure.”
• Heavy trucks: “The heavier the vehicles, the more likely hydrogen is to be used with fuel cells or combustion engines. But there are also plans for electric motors with batteries for a range of 400 km, which must then be charged with high charging power in the megawatt range. However, the (green) combustion engine The e-fuel makes more sense for this application.”
• in Construction machinery The smaller engines will be electric, while the larger ones will be powered by hydrogen engines or fuel cells. E-fuels are an ideal option for this application in particular, and they are becoming more popular. bg