The editor-in-chief’s editorial: “big shortcut”

Apart from the disturbing confusion skillfully maintained between large Texan SUVs and city crossovers – which is today’s equivalent of the station wagon or minivan –, it is evident that there is logic in this perspective. Multiplying 2.5 ton concrete blocks equipped with 100 kWh batteries for a range of 300 terminals with the wind at your back is absurd. The problem is the exaggerated caricature that results from all this: “if the whole world bought as many electric SUVs as the French, the mining industry would not produce enough critical metals, at the end of the decade, to meet global primary demand…”. Those cheese eaters, go! And what about the American pick-ups weighing over 3 tonnes with 200 kWh batteries that will invade the Los Angeles show this weekend, are we overlooking that? It’s true that today’s cars are heavier than yesterday’s, but it’s also the price to pay for achieving a much higher level of safety than in the past.

The other thing that is frustrating is that in order to stem this excessive trend, the focus is always on the electric vehicles: according to the WWF, electric vehicles weighing over 1.6 tonnes should not receive bonuses and should be penalized for their excess weight. Others propose creating a system to discourage the purchase of a second family vehicle, almost like a Chinese birth control for cars! These are all measures that lead to a dead end – not everyone will ultimately buy a small electric city car to meet all of their needs. Especially the many French people for whom there is no alternative based on shared soft mobility and carbon-free transportation. They will not buy a large, overpriced electric SUV, a cheap plug-in hybrid (also condemned by the WWF), or a new gasoline vehicle (since they are also condemned). In short, while waiting for a technology that satisfies everyone (if it even exists), there is no miracle solution.