Electromobility
Opportunities and risks of electromobility in Switzerland
Overdevelopment of the countryside, uncontrolled streams of traffic and the consumption of natural resources all of these entail are giving rise to some concern. At first glance, electric vehicles could help at least to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels and the emission of CO2. But on closer examination, the potential for conflict created by electromobility is proving to be considerable.
Opportunities and risks
There are a number of arguments in favour of increased use of electric vehicles: they do not harm the environment with pollutants, they are noise-free in operation, and they reduce dependency on raw material suppliers, not all of whom are known for their political reliability.
Electromobility gives rise to problems in that Switzerland is unable to cover a sharp rise in demand for electricity with renewable energy sources (such as hydropower, wind and solar energy). The question that would arise is whether Switzerland wishes to build new nuclear power stations itself, or import electricity from nuclear installations abroad. Moreover, the mineral oil tax is the most important source of revenue for financing infrastructure projects for road transport. If this revenue were to disappear, this would have serious consequences either for infrastructure quality or for the government’s funding tools.
Contact: