The transition to the electric car: timing and reasons

Abstract

The history of the developed countries is strictly intertwined to the history of the automotive industry. Between 1985 and 1990 the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) carried out the largest survey history of the so called “the industry of industries”. The title of the final report is evocative: The Machine that Changed the World: it was, in fact, around the changes induced by the car industry that modern societies have been structured, and this symbiotic relationship has come down to the present day. The pervasiveness of the impact of the automotive industry on our societies justifies the study of the historical evolution of this sector and the analysis of its moments of transition (related to technology or to organizational aspects). This thesis aims to investigate the possible evolving scenario for the automotive industry deriving from the deployment of the electric vehicles. The first chapter analyses the history of the electric car from its first appearance, at the end of the nineteenth century, to the new millennium. The second chapter examines the more recent history of the electric mobility industry, focusing on the strategies of the major manufacturers. Finally, the third section shifts the attention to the use of hydrogen as a green engine The vast majority of vehicle operators see electric mobility as the future propulsion. Only a small minority, instead, is still in doubt. The innovation represented by the use of hydrogen in combustion engines appears today as the solution able to replace hydrocarbon-based propulsion, due to the fact that hydrogen, in order to transfer energy, does not need to bind to carbon molecules, ensures a zero environmental impact and achieves high energy efficiency Problems related to the cost of electrolytic production of hydrogen, its high consumption if used in Ice (internal combustion engine), production difficulties and safety problems, tend, however, to del