Catalin Stratulat, Wipro: “Electric cars are here to stay and to dominate the world for years to come”

“Electric cars are a kind of technological dream for everyone. They are smart from wheels to steering wheel, but not all aspects are so great. We need to think about several things, not just the challenge of charging the car. There are studies that show that the production of electric cars is more expensive and more polluting than in the case of vehicles with internal combustion engines,” Catalin Stratulat, Engineering Head Europe, Engineering and R&D, Wipro said during e-Mobility Forum 2021 organized by The Diplomat-Bucharest.

“During its life, the electric car does not pollute on the street, but we must ask ourselves how the energy that electric cars use is created. The answers differ from country to country. For example, the Nordic countries are using more and more renewable, non-polluting energy.

One issue we are not yet facing and which we will have to address is what we will do with the millions of batteries that will need to be recycled. There are a lot of initiatives and startups that aim to either produce clean batteries or recycle them.

I don’t want to give the impression that electric cars are full of problems. It is clear that electric cars are here to stay and dominate the world for years to come. Estimates for 2021 show sales of 10 million electric cars globally. It sounds like a lot, but think of the global vehicle fleet as 1.3 billion units.

The R&D funds of car manufacturers are directed to electric vehicles for many reasons, among them being the European legislation.

We have to ask ourselves what pressure these charging stations put on the electrical network. If all the cars become fully electric tomorrow, we will have a global blackout. The progress of electric cars is still relatively slow.

There are studies that have shown that the network would reach its operating limit if the global car fleet contained 15% of electric cars. 15% means over 100 million vehicles, so we are still far from that milestone. We have time to adapt the networks for this mobility of the future. Smart grid charging means a data connection, and providers can control the flow of energy depending on the area.

By 2030-2035, the power installed in electric cars will be about 30 TWh, which is about half of Finland’s annual consumption.

Electric vehicles will dominate the market in the next decade and beyond. There is no doubt here, especially if we look at the investments being made in the field. All our customers in the automotive industry only talk about electrification. All funds are invested in this area. It is an irreversible trend.”

Full recording of the event here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TY8U4Ak0f2U&t=5616s