The Internationalism

Internationalism No. 81, November 2025 Page 14 From the series The world car battle Electrification of Everything – Accelerating Electrification is the title of a document by Siemens AG. For the German electric group, electrification is the necessary step to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. The global grid According to the International Energy Agency, electrification means replacing technologies or processes that use fossil fuels, like internal combustion engines and gas boilers, with electrically-powered equivalents, such as electric vehicles or heat pumps . These replacements are typically more efficient, reducing energy demand, and have a growing impact on emissions as electricity generation is decarbonised. The grid is a single integrated mechanism of continental dimensions, owned by dozens of different companies and managed by operators who balance thousands of producers with different energy sources in real-time. A new electrical devic...

Internationalism No. 71, January 2025 Page 1 From the series The world car battle On September 6th, Toyota, the world's largest car manufacturer, an nounced a revised target of building I million electric vehicles by 2026, lowering its previous goal by 1.5 million, according to Automotive News . Difficulties of the electric sector A key driver behind the energy transition, particularly as regards vehicle electrification, is that countries which lack oil and natural gas resources need to reduce their reliance on regions prone to political instability and conflict. China has taken on the challenge of large-scale electrification, even though the electric car was pioneered by US manufacturers like Tesla and the Franco-Japanese Renault-Nissan alliance. Other nations have followed suit out of necessity. By focusing solely on environmental concerns, without factoring in China’s role, it is impossible to understand the impetus behind the global energy trans...