SPEAKER: So maybe let's
take one step outside.
Because we have seen the car.
We have looked at the range anxiety.
We looked at the economics of the car.
But from a very broad perspective,
from a broader economic perspective,
what do you think that electric
vehicles can do for our economy?
And what will be the change in
the business models from a country
perspective, right?
Why should we go towards that?
PAVOL BAUER: I think that
the contribution, especially
to energy transition-- the transition
to renewable energies-- is really huge.
And I would like to
say that, for example,
the storage capacity of
electric vehicles-- now,
the best ones is about 100
kilowatt hours for a vehicle--
can mean a huge capacity
for storing the energy
from the wind or solar or other
sources from newer energies.
And this contribution can be huge.
And also cost saving
can be also important.
For example, if I calculated that we
have now more than 7 million vehicles
in the Netherlands and
if 1 million from them
will be electrical vehicles with the
huge capacity of 100 kilowatt hours,
then we are coming to the
capacity of 100 gigawatt hours.
And now the peak power in
Netherlands is about 35 gigawatts.
So we can cover the whole country's
energy needs for more than three hours
by energy vehicles.
Of course, you need to have
the technology for that.
For example, a vehicle
[INAUDIBLE] we are
developing at the university
in Delft, such a technology.
But this is something which
will change the whole landscape.
Also, for the private user, it
can be that the houses or the user
can be more energy neutral.
FRANK RIECK: Electric vehicles are
three to four times as efficient
as the combustion vehicle in practice.
So you're saving a lot of energy.
And if you make an electric vehicle
capable for storing energy or even
harvesting energy, like the start-up
company Lightyear us planning to do,
it's earning money standing
still, and maybe even driving.
Self-driving vehicles
are earning money anyhow.
50% of the cost of
transportation is the chauffeur.
So in some cases where you
really don't need a chauffeur,
you can stimulate or build your economy
much easier than we did in the past.
The nice thing of electric
vehicles is that they are also
the platform for automization.
[? Adam ?] already talked
about driverless vehicles,
autonomous vehicles.
They are easy to automate and
easy to connect to each other.
So [? route ?] trains, completely
driverless or accidents can be avoided.
Traffic jams can be
avoided by automation.
So that's a very important
economic value for the future.
And if you add that up,
electrification, automation,
and maybe even sharing
that we make smarter
use of the capacity of
passenger cars or trucks--
trucks are driving for
more than 50% empty--
that's not transportation, I would say--
then you could imagine that during this
century, apart from the investment,
that the transportation cost of
men and goods could be for free.
And that is saving a lot of costs.
And costs and money is what is available
for other, more added value additions.
And we shouldn't forget
what he said, that we
are the pioneers in the
charging infrastructure.
For the Netherlands, there is a lot
to gain with exporting that idea.
And that experience.
And we are the world leaders in
normal charging and fast charging
at this moment in time.
On the other hand, even in the trucks
and buses, we are leading in Europe.
And having the European activity
of Tesla in the Netherlands
is also very important.
I think Europe has still
to understand, because it
has a lot of stake in the old
car economy, that it should move
and it should renew, otherwise we
lose our economic wealth, but also
our health, at the end.
So I think electric mobility
is an enormous opportunity
to stimulate the next economy.
MARGOT WEIJNEN: Well,
Frank, I'm impressed.
What can I add to this?
I think what we see is
that the contribution
of electric mobility to our
economy has many different aspects.
[? Pavel ?] already
mentioned public health.
You said you can't express
that in economic terms,
but of course, it is being
expressed in economic terms.
And it may sound very
cynical, but preventing
premature deaths that are
caused by bad air quality
does contribute to the economy.
Healthy people that live longer
can contribute more to the economy
and to society.
PAVOL BAUER: I think that
human life is priceless,
and I have a difficulty
to put a price tag on it.
MARGOT WEIJNEN: No, no, I'm not
saying that I disagree with you,
but this is the cynical reality.
We should also not
underestimate to what extent
clean air may become an
important factor to attract
talented people and innovative
businesses to our cities.
And both are key to economic
growth in the future.
Many cities have already
established environmental zones
with restricted access for
the most polluting vehicles.
Many cities are seen to be
eager to reclaim public space
for pedestrians and for cyclists.
And I can easily imagine
in the near future
that city centers are going to be
places where you can only move around--
if not by bike or walking--
where you can only move
around with electric mobility.
As municipal governments
are all striving to improve
the livability of our cities.
You also pointed out that there
are many more direct contributions
of electric vehicles to our economy.
I already mentioned jobs.
There are so many new
technologies involved
that there is a whole range of new IT
intensive services being developed.
I probably don't know them all.
One of the simplest is the new app
that was developed to show drivers
where charging poles are available.
And there is great economic
potential for electric vehicles
to play a role in the new
energy system in accommodating
the variability of
renewable energy sources
in the future electricity system.
And that development is also--
it's nothing but a revolution.
The electric vehicles are
becoming an active component
of the electricity system.
So that also will require
a lot of innovations
in terms of new surfaces, new market
developments, new transactions.
It's very exciting to see what research
groups around the world are doing
to develop applications-- for
example, blockchain technology--
to accommodate the almost real-time
interactions of electric vehicles
that are being recharged
with the electricity system.
That is only part of the interaction
between electric vehicles
and the electricity system.
So a whole world of new technological
options and needs is unfolding here.
PAVOL BAUER: I'd like to
stress one thought which
was already mentioned here.
But I'd like to stress
it again, that only when
we charge electric vehicles by
energy from the sustainable sources,
like solar and wind, only then, we
have a real sustainable solution.
This is a very important part.
And again, we were mentioning technology
and future mobility part of the book,
but this is something which we
have to keep in mind all the time,
that this is the important part of the
solution of the equation for energy
transition.
SPEAKER: So we see electric vehicles
are a key technology for the future.
And they're going to have a tremendous
impact on the society, on our economy,
on the environment, and
at the community at large.
And while you cannot charge gasoline
or diesel vehicles from solar and wind
energy, you can do that
for electric vehicles.
So that makes them a sustainable
transportation mode for the future.
