Do you feel like you're a part of the impact?

There is no doubt that climate change is one of the greatest difficulties we are faced with. And it has also become clear that the COVID-19 pandemic has left a deep mark on society. However, at the same time, it has made us all a little more aware of the impact we have as individuals on our environment. We have realised that we are fragile within the ecosystem and that we have to take care of it, but we must take a further step in this "environmental awareness" to feel that we are part of that impact and that each of us as an individual can also do a lot, even if we look like small drops of water in an ocean.

Today the need to recycle, for example, is unquestionable. In fact, the study Sustainability, environmental commitment and recycling after COVID-19, carried out by Focus for Ecoembes, shows that, since the state of alarm was decreed, more than 2.5 million Spaniards (6.7% of the population) said they had begun to separate, for subsequent recycling, waste that they did not separate before the lockdown. In total, more than 95% of respondents said that recycling is important to curb climate change. A widespread awareness that has taken two decades to take hold.

The same needs to happen, if it is not already happening, with electric mobility. People are starting to realise that driving has a pretty negative impact on the atmosphere. A new, current car, one of the most efficient and a far cry from the cars from ten years ago, emits on average 120 g of CO2 per km travelled (so we can easily talk about a 1 ton of CO2 emissions on average per year per car).

Faced with this, the electric vehicle clearly stands as the solution to end these emissions. With the current energy mix for electricity production in Spain, the latter emits less than half (52 g CO2/km). In other words, if all cars were electric and charged directly from the electricity grid, we would reduce car emissions by 60%. But we are working towards a totally renewable electricity generation system. Then, these emissions will be zero since the energy that will power our electric vehicles will be clean, like the emission-free operation of their engines.

According to the Electric Vehicle Outlook 2022 report by Bloomberg NEF, we will not have to wait too long to see ourselves behind the wheel – or on the passenger's seat – of an electric vehicle. Global sales will increase from 6.6 million units in 2021 to 20.6 million in 2025. In Europe, it is expected that by then electric vehicles will already account for 39% of new car sales. As a result, by 2025, there will be 77 million electric passenger vehicles driving around the world.

It is already a wave, a trend that is here to stay. So yes, there is more and more awareness. There is a more and more positive view of electric mobility, but there are still certain discomforts that weigh against making such an important decision to change. Some are external to ourselves, but others are internal, to each of us. Therefore, we must consider that our individual role can be more active in this necessary change. We must consider whether we are travelling in the most efficient and sustainable way possible. This is the path that each of us has to travel.

The barriers to entry have and will continue to fall, because there is no going back. We need to change the way we travel. We, as Endesa X Way, want to be facilitators, both of energy services and of offering a safe and reliable charging infrastructure. So that we are left with no doubts and can follow the path... of zero emissions. #Followtheway.