Europe's electricity supply is seriously insufficient, Switzerland simply banned 110,000 electric vehicles from the road

Switzerland is a picturesque country with highly developed industrial and financial sectors. However, just recently, this European country has a surprising news: Switzerland is drafting a plan to ban the use of electric vehicles during power shortages this winter, unless it is "absolutely necessary travel."

It is understood that Switzerland has many mountains and lakes, and relying on hundreds of hydroelectric power stations in the hinterland of the Alps, Switzerland can easily meet its electricity demand in summer. But in winter, when energy demand soars, river water levels drop and hydroelectric power generation decreases, Switzerland will be in short supply.

In addition, due to the impact of factors such as the Russian-Ukrainian war and climate change, Germany and France, Switzerland's main energy importers, are also facing their own electricity difficulties. France has reduced nuclear energy this year and Germany has adopted natural gas energy. Both countries are not rich. According to reports, France has begun to formulate a specific power outage plan, and the power outage areas will be distributed throughout France. Germany also said that it could not provide Switzerland with a 10% share.

So, in this context, why did Switzerland choose to ban electric cars? There are two reasons: first, because electric cars put enormous pressure on the local power grid; second, because electric cars are not as environmentally friendly as imagined.

According to data, Switzerland currently has 110,000 electric vehicles, accounting for 2.5% of the total number of vehicles. Although this proportion is not high, it has become one of the focuses of attention during peak electricity consumption due to the high maximum value during charging. Previously, the Swiss Federal Electricity Commission issued a warning about the risks of winter power supply and would even "turn off" charging piles if necessary.

On the other hand, although electric vehicles have obvious advantages over traditional vehicles in terms of tail gas emissions, their carbon footprint is not necessarily lower than that of traditional vehicles throughout their life cycle. This depends on the source of electricity used by electric vehicles, as well as the manufacturing and recycling process of electric vehicles. If the source of electricity is fossil energy such as coal and natural gas, the environmental protection effect of electric vehicles will be greatly reduced. In Switzerland's power structure, fossil energy accounts for about 20%.

Therefore, the Swiss government believes that in the case of power shortage, banning electric vehicles is a reasonable option, which can not only reduce the burden on the power grid but also avoid greater impact on the environment.

For the European market, Switzerland's ban may prompt other countries to follow suit, or at least cause consumers to have some concerns about electric vehicles.

Europe is one of the world's largest electric vehicle markets and one of the regions with the most policy support and consumer willingness. However, Europe is also facing electricity problems similar to Switzerland, especially in major countries such as Germany, France, and the United Kingdom. If these countries also experience an electricity crisis or take restrictive measures, it will deal a major blow to the European electric vehicle market.

In short, the news that Switzerland bans electric vehicles serves as a warning to us: while pursuing the development of new energy vehicles, we must also pay attention to the foundation behind them.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.