Bolsonaro is unable to put Brazil at the center of sustainable technologies, says Di Grassi

12 years ago, Lucas Di Grassi, 36, migrated from F1 to FE, leaving behind the category of cars powered by combustion engines to be one of the creators of the electric vehicle championship, created in 2014. Since then, the Pilot has become one of the main voices in world motorsport in defense of urban mobility solutions with renewable energy sources.

Champion in the 2016/17 season and about to start his eighth consecutive year at FE on the 28th of this month, the São Paulo native believes that Brazil is behind in the technology transition process that the entire automotive industry is going through.

In this interview with leaf, Lucas says that the “Bolsonaro government is incapable of carrying out technological moves that would make Brazil the center of the world in technologies related to sustainability”, but it also blames previous presidents. “Neither Fernando Henrique, nor Lula, nor anyone else in our entire democratic life has put the country on an adequate technology route.”

Ambassador of the UN Program (United Nations) for the Environment, the pilot also says that he recently had a meeting with members of the Bolsonaro government to present some of his ideas, but he did not “advance to anything concrete”.

Among the current presidential candidates, he says he likes the proposals of Luiz Felipe d’Avila, from the Novo party, and he also doesn’t rule out going into politics. “It doesn’t matter the government, it matters that we speed up Brazil.”

How is the adaptation process to the Venturi team after seven years racing in the FE for Audi? This process is fast because in FE the cars are very similar. I switched from the Audi powertrain to the Mercedes [utilizado pela Venturi]. That’s a big difference, but as the two are competitive, the car’s efficiency is similar. What changes is how the controls are made, how the energy use strategy is made. So, the adaptation process is more with the team, understanding how the engineer thinks.

When Audi decided to leave the FE, after the last year, did you consider leaving the category and even retiring from the tracks? Maybe take a gap year, yes. There came a time when the only viable options were teams that are not competitive. I like motorsport because it is competitive. Without that, I would have no problem taking a gap year or actually retiring and doing something else, like creating a company in Brazil linked to sustainability. But, as I got a spot at Venturi, which is excellent, I thought it was a very viable option and I’m motivated to continue because I can win the championship.

How was your participation in the development of FE? I joined the FE before the category was registered, I think I was employee number 2. In those initial two years, I helped build the championship. I’m very happy to see a project like FE, which many people laughed at at the beginning, they thought that electric mobility was not the future, and now it’s starting to sink in more and more. Many European countries, especially the more developed ones, have understood that the future is electric and are ceasing to make combustion cars. Brazil, however, despite having had two champions in the FE, takes time to understand the new concepts. Brazilians are always five, ten years behind in terms of technology in practically everything.

Is this scenario that you drew about Brazil the reason why the category has not yet fallen into popular taste, like F1? It has the lack of structure, yes, the lack of a popular electric car, not having an FE race in Brazil. And there’s a cultural factor: when I enter the main portals in Brazil and see the news that are most read on the day, I am negatively surprised by the subjects that Brazilians are interested in. Brazilians have difficulty understanding technology trends. And since FE mixes in some of that, it took a little longer to get accepted.

How did the UN invite you to be ambassador for the environment? The invitation came from FE. I met the UN staff in Paris, and we had meetings about electric vehicles. When talking about this, many people already think about global warming, but the main reason for having electric cars is not warming, but having zero emissions. [de carbono] in the cities. With this, it improves air quality, reduces noise, and improves not only health but the quality of life in general.

You have already stated that Brazil has the ideal scenario to have a completely renewable energy matrix. However, one of the main actors, President Jair Bolsonaro, has had a management much criticized by experts on issues related to the environment. How do you evaluate his government at this point? The Bolsonaro government is incapable of carrying out technological moves that would make Brazil the center of the world in technologies related to sustainability. Our country is extremely sustainable. Our matrix is ​​already, with Bolsonaro government or not, 80% renewable, with hydro and solar energy. And it can be 100% or even negative. We can exchange carbon with Europe and preserve the Amazon a little more. We have a huge photovoltaic potential. But not only the Bolsonaro government, the Lula government could also have made this move. Dilma, on the other hand, made the bet, increased the use of thermoelectric plants. Now, Bolsonaro has just signed a new contract until 2040 to generate energy from coal. Our culture is antagonistic towards technology. We haven’t had a leader in the last 20 years with the ability to direct the country to end poverty with the development of industry and technology. We didn’t have a statesman, nor Fernando Henrique, nor Lula, nor anyone in our democratic life who put the country on a route of adequate technology.

You were in Brasília to present some ideas to the current government. How was the reception to what was presented? In the current administration, I’ve had some conversations about carbon credit, which is basically a financial incentive for industries to increase efficiency and decrease carbon emissions in a way that works. It’s no use just banishing plastic straws. I went to talk about when Brazil could have this carbon credit trade with Europe, with China, with the United States. Today, Europe does not allow companies to buy carbon credits from Brazil. If it did, we would have billions of reais entering the country, it would appreciate the real and reduce inflation. I went to talk about photovoltaics and electric cars too. But it was a very early conversation, it was nothing concrete.

Of the current presidential candidates, which one do you identify with? Of all of them, the one that aligns with my ideas is Luiz Felipe d’Avila, from Novo. I talk to him a lot. Does he have any chance? It has very few, it is unknown, it does not want to be populist.

Thinking about pursuing a political career? If I went into politics, I would go into an executive rather than an elective role. I’d like to focus on what I’m good at and be able to help. In the future, why not?