International Scientific Journals
of Scientific Technical Union of Mechanical Engineering "Industry 4.0"

About a hundred young lives are lost on Serbian roads every year. Since the beginning of 2025, eight young people have died in traffic accidents in Serbia. According to Norwegian statistics, the share of traffic accidents involving electric cars more than tripled between 2018 and 2023, but the increase in the accident rate is still proportional to the number of electric cars. The subject of many debates in recent years is the fact that electric cars are very quiet. Electric cars are more likely to be involved in accidents with pedestrians. At least compared to diesel and gasoline engines. In March 2025 at the International Motor Show in Belgrade, the new all-electric “Fiat Grande Panda” produced in Serbia was presented. The launch of serial production at the factory in Kragujevac will affect the economic development of Serbia. The fight for environmental protection is a process that requires long-term commitment, large investments, and active cooperation between governments, the private sector, and citizens.

In the world today, Germany could lose its status as a superpower in the automotive industry, and the German Association of the Automotive Industry considers excessive regulation, slow political decisions and the absence of a legal framework for issues such as artificial intelligence as key problems.
From the year 2021, the list of Chinese companies has doubled. China develops electric motor cars and has taken the lead compared to Europe, especially in battery technologies, but also subsidizes their production. At the same time, China became the world’s largest car exporter in 2023 – it exported 4.91 million cars, which is an increase of 57.9% compared to the last year, becoming the world’s first country according to the number of exported cars.
An additional problem for car manufacturers is created by the European Union’s plans to phase out vehicles with internal combustion engines by 2035. There is also a lack of access to the raw materials needed to manufacture batteries and the slow development of electric vehicle charging infrastructure. Nevertheless, during the year 2023, 254 thousand “Tesla” models were sold in Europe, making this car the best-selling car on the continent.
From July 2024, every new car must have the most modern safety systems, having in mind that 20.400 people died on the roads of the European Union in 2023, according to unofficial data (that’s 1% less than in 2022). From July 7, new cars are obliged to have 10 additional safety systems, which will contribute to increasing safety and reducing the number of accidents.
On the territory of Serbia, a license was issued to one company for test driving of automated vehicles, after tests and analysis conducted jointly by the Traffic Safety Agency and the CIAX laboratory of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in Belgrade. And from
February this year in Serbia, the registration of those interested in state subsidies for the purchase of electric vehicles began and will continue until October. In Kragujevac, from 2024 “Stelantis” will start producing the new “Panda” hybrid. It was announced that it will be called “PANDINA”. And we look forward to its production.

The development of strategies for mitigating negative environmental impacts has been developed for a long period of time and it is actually now also. At the European level, the DIRECTIVE 2014/94/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council has been adopted. This the Directive has been in force since 2014. The main objective of the Directive is to reduce the use of oil and the adverse effects caused by traffic, respectively the transition to alternative fuels. The idea of electric vehicles and theirs advantages is popularized because that. This work will highlight the need for the use of electric vehicles, as well as the development of strategies for their use. Many of the leading European and world countries already have a great deal of successful practice in sustainable development and can boast of positive results. These countries emphasize the need of using natural resources and transforming them into energy that can be used, while minimizing negative effects. Also, various innovations that influence the improvement of the quality of life and the possibilities of using electric vehicles are being developed and projected. How and to what extent electric cars and the use of alternative fuel can contribute to a better and cleaner environment has not yet been established, but it is certain that they can have a positive effect on the future.