Combustion engines will be around long after 2035, says Austrian KTM CEO…”500-kg battery to substitute 20 liters of fuel” …”a stupid idea” …”phony sustainability”…
Stefan Pierer, the Austrian CEO of KTM Group, recently told SpeedWeek.com here: “Electromobility is nonsense promoted by politicians with no technical knowledge.”
KTM CEO Stefan Pierer. Image cropped at KTM.de
The numerous drawbacks of e-vehicles
Especially electric passenger vehicles are notorious for their limited range, environmentally-damaging batteries and generally low energy efficiency. Other drawbacks include safety, especially is case of fires.
Pierer, also president of the European Association of Motorcycle Manufacturers (ACEM), has made it clear that the internal combustion engine is not going away anytime soon and that the future of mobility is not going to be exclusively electric.
The KTM Group includes names like Husqvarna, GasGas, Rieju. KTM has become Europe’s number one motorbike manufacturer, and so it’s no surprise that CEO Pierer would have a strong interest in the internal combustion engine.
Some practical applications
Pierer says, however, electric powered vehicles do have some practical applications.
“We assume that with 48-volt electrics up to class A1 – that is 11 kW or 15 hp – there will be many electric motorbikes in the next ten years, especially in Europe,” Pierer told SPEEDWEEK.com. “That applies to scooters, mopeds and motorbikes. Everything concerning motorized two-wheelers above 48 volts is going in the direction of e-fuels.”
Need 500-kg battery to equal 20 liters of fuel
The Austrian KTM CEO also believes there’s plenty of room for the combustion engines in the future and that they will continue to be essential: “We can still run vehicles with combustion engines for a long time.”
“Electromobility as a whole is nonsense promoted by politicians without any technical knowledge,” Pierer told SPEEDWEEK.com. “For a MotoGP bike that covers the complete distance of a race with 20 litres of fuel, a 500-kg battery would be needed to achieve comparable performance and range, and also have the same power. That’s a stupid idea,” he said.
“Phony sustainability”
Pierer also criticized the “phony sustainability” in MotoE races, reminding that the batteries are charged up “with diesel generators”.
When it comes to the solution for combustion engines, Pierer foresees CO2-free synthetic fuel as the solution.
Berlin not got the message
https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/cars/1557828/Berlin-consider-ban-on-all-cars
Perhaps it will be more like this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIiK3rH2hXc&t=204s
or this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDt6blkpiEQ
“Pierer foresees CO2-free synthetic fuel as the solution.”
Carbon dioxide is not and never has been a problem, and certainly never is not THE problem. There is no need of a “solution.” The entire debate is in a context of dishonesty.
GHGs are the main reason we have the Holocene now. Without GHGs, earth would be a giant snowball.
Bull feathers …. show some proof of this silly claim.
” Pierer foresees CO2-free synthetic fuel as the solution.”
This doesn’t seem like a serious comment for the near term, say next 15 years.
While synthetic fuel may be good for local-area air quality (dense urban places) and a practical commercial use of captured CO2, a contribution to reducing global warming is non-existing.
SORRY — Edit: “…certainly is not THE problem.”
The EU Enron-style energy spot-price dogma and insane attempts to stop NordStream 2 and buy US LNG will make a 20-liter gas-tank load cost as much as a battery. Come to think of it – is that the strategy?
Free-lunch or free-market, anyone?
While he did generalize a bit, that article you took exerpts from is mostly related to Moto GP.
“… Pierer foresees CO2-free synthetic fuel as the solution.”
Could he be a little more specific? Please?
Pardon, but what is a CO2 free synthetic fuel? This appears to be fantasy science with no factual basis.
The combustion process is that combustion creates CO2 and water vapour from hydrocarbons to liberate molecular binding energy as heat. Perhaps there is a new science describing this process?
Please explain, or correct the account, which cannot be correct on the facts.
Or have the IPCC their own chemistry as well? CEng, CPhys.
When the object is to make room for more investment and more government spending, even this stupidity is understandable (although not defensible because it takes money from the average taxpayer and moves it into the pockets of the oligarcs).
The ev paranoia continues. FUD fear, uncertainty and doubt. I have no doubt what so ever battery cars are the superior way to drive. Battery cars are four times more efficient than their gas counter parts. My car has just over 2 gallons equivalent in electricity compared to gas and yet I can go over 200 miles on it. Plus the pollution rate off of a utility is way far lower than burning gas directly.
Andrea Rossi has just finished his first commercial cold fusion reactor, the E-Cat SKlep. One module produces 100W/h. Several modules can be combined to produce much more for 10 years without fuel, without radiation and without toxic substances.
Imagine when these things are powerful enough to power a car! Driving around for years without fuel!
[…] KTM CEO Pierer: “Electric Mobility Is Nonsense Promoted By Politicians With No Technical Knowl… […]