Electric cars, hydrogen-powered cars

To reduce oil consumption and cut CO ₂ emissions, many countries are thinking of introducing vehicles using electricity as a power source, which means decarbonizing electricity, using renewable energies or nuclear power. In Europe, for example, it will be forbidden to market new vehicles using internal combustion engines from 2035. Hydrogen is envisaged as an alternative fuel because, emitting no CO ₂ in operation, it is not affected by this ban.

This European decision, which is political in nature, was taken without measuring the consequences it will have on the energy, economic and societal levels. The automotive sector, where the European industry is currently ahead of the rest of the world in terms of thermal vehicles, risks being weakened or partially dismantled, mainly to the benefit of Chinese vehicles. It is estimated that 2.6 million people in Europe are directly employed in the automotive industry, and a further 12.7 million indirectly. In all, this represents 14 to 15 million jobs, or 7% of the total number of jobs in Europe.

It's important to note that while oil is an energy source, electricity and hydrogen are merely energy carriers: energy is needed to produce them. For hydrogen, we know that natural sources exist, but their production, if developed to an industrial level one day, will probably not be sufficient to satisfy transport demand.

In this article, we will focus on the energy aspects of electric and hydrogen-powered cars. We'll assess a few orders of magnitude of the capacities required in this field. Readers will be able to refine these for their own particular needs.

We'll also look at some economic aspects, but focusing on costs rather than prices. Indeed, prices can differ greatly from costs, due to the various taxes imposed by governments. In France, for example, taxes on gasoline and diesel represent approximately 60% of the price paid by the consumer. These taxes are variable in nature and depend on the politics of the moment. The cost depends on the price of crude oil, which varies according to supply and demand, production and transport costs, the cost of refining and the operations required to produce the fuel, as well as the margins achieved by the various players from the purchase of the oil to its distribution. Taxes are added to this cost, leading to the price paid by the user. In the case of electricity, there is also a difference between cost and price, which can vary over time depending on the policies adopted.

While the success or failure of electric vehicles depends on technological advances, it is also linked to other aspects, including psychological and societal...