Abstract

In our large cities, we are getting slowly asphyxiated and poisoned by the exhaust emissions from internal combustion engines (ICE) of automobiles, trucks, and motorcycles (Lagally et al. 2012), to the point that anthropogenic carbon nanotubes have been found recently in the respiratory system of children in Paris (Kolosnjaj-Tabi et al. 2015). Even though most modern automotive vehicles have been equipped with catalytic converters and an electronic regulation of fuel injection for quite a long time (Pribat and Velasco 1988), they still emit pollutants, particularly in developing countries, where regulations are not so tight and controls are more difficult to organize. The electrification of transportation, which until recently could be viewed as a trendy (albeit expensive) bourgeois-bohemian option, is becoming a public health issue as more and more people die from air pollution, particularly in India and China (see e.g., http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-35568249). Although fuel cells burning hydrogen are probably the best option for the long term (Schlapbach 2009; Tollefson 2010) battery-powered vehicles are today cheaper and seem to be within reach. Actually, one must realize that batteries and fuel cells both power the same electric motors, so that even for hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, car companies are considering using auxiliary batteries to take advantage of regenerative braking, which would extend the driving range further. In other words, whether used as the main power source or as an auxiliary one, batteries will be needed for electric vehicles in the future. At this point, we would like to point out that even if electricity originates from coal-burning plants, so that electric vehicles generate in the end more CO₂ than their gasoline-powered counterparts (Larcher and Tarascon 2015), CO₂ sequestration techniques (which are not realistic for individual ICE vehicles) can be used in large power plants/factories using fossil fuels to produce electricity (Ciferno et al. 2009) or hydrogen.