Greening the Car - Mission Impossible or Not Pursued?

In recent years, the majority of players and stakeholders in the automotive industry have focused attention on new powertrain technologies. There has been a constant tug-of-war between proponents of electric drive and defenders of traditional engines, a debate based more on football fan tones than on a rational assessment of the technical and social aspects of the alternatives in play. And what is more, a debate that overshadows what at the moment seems indisputable, namely that traditional engines are unsustainable for health and the environment, and that the electric car, although somewhat better environmentally, also remains unsustainable. The emphasis on technical aspects over social ones is a legacy of an anachronistic approach drugged by the prevalence of economic interests over the issue of quality of life. The quasi-ideological clash of technologies is a diversion from the real problem, which is to think about a future in which we can do without the car at least in urban areas.