Maserati's CEO Says Electric Cars Are "Nonsense"

Automakers are getting fed up with battery obsession.

Shortly after Sergio Marchionne's speech imploring governments to cease favoring electric cars over other alternate fuels, Maserati's CEO, Harald Wester, said the following, "All this discussion about zero emissions is nonsense. Nobody talks about the efficiency of how the battery is charged. It varies strongly from region to region, depending on how the energy is produced, nuclear, coal and so on, but even the best is not ahead of the internal combustion engine."

He went on to say that, due to the CO2 emitted by the power plants that charge electric cars, they're responsible for about 86g of CO2 per kilometer in Europe, 110g/km in America, and 191g/km in China. He conceded that Maserati may have to create a hybrid to meet fuel economy regulations, especially in America, but he thinks that it's actual carbon emissions that should be regulated, rather than fuel economy. 

"Diesel and CNG are the more obvious answers if CO2 is the focus. Both are more viable answers than hybrid. If they gave us a CO2 target instead of imposing technology then we would go that way. If we want a realistic solution to emissions then the regulators need to be more honest in how they calculate emissions. Electric cars are not the answer."

Related: Sergio Marchionne Wants Government to Treat All Alternate Fuels Fairly
Related: Reuters Says Electric Cars Are Dead Again

[via Autocar

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