The electric car industry had many false starts, the first of which appeared as early as the 1880s. More specifically, the first successfully built electric car started in 1888, when it left the German production plant. Since then, several other attempts have been made in history to introduce these cars to the mass market without success. The current wave of enthusiasm for them began in 2008 and is likely to continue, given how far the industry has gone over the last five years. All the factors taken into account seem to be that these cars are finally breaking the “glass ceiling” to enter the mainstream automotive market.
These cars, as the name suggests, are fully electric cars. Energy is stored in a reserve (battery) from which it drives the engine(s) that drives the car. Since electricity is renewable, in recent years these cars have attracted a lot of attention because of their ability to eliminate the emissions problem, which is a difficult environmental task around the world. It is well known that motor vehicles make the biggest contribution to emissions risks. The transition from diesel and petrol vehicles will therefore undoubtedly contribute to a significant reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions.
This makes them one of the solutions to the problem of global warming and its devastating effects. At this point in time, one might wonder why, since these cars have the potential to solve such a serious problem, they have not been adopted on a large scale. There are several answers to this question.
Firstly, their inability to cover long distances without interruption was by far their biggest shortcoming. Since they are powered by battery power, battery capacity becomes an issue of interest. Until recently, batteries could only store charges capable of powering an electric car for a distance of 90 kilometers a time. This shortcoming has led to what is commonly referred to by electric car enthusiasts as ‘range anxiety’. This problem was further highlighted by the fact that in most parts of the world the charging infrastructure was largely devoid or underdeveloped. It was therefore impractical to have an electric car.
However, there are some good news! Tesla recently unveiled a new 315-mile battery for use in these cars. This translates into 506.9 km. This will undoubtedly effectively solve the problem of coverage anxiety and make these cars more popular, as most car owners, for example in the United States, drive less than 40 miles a day. This, combined with the fact that infrastructure and charging devices are being developed around the world, ensures that people no longer worry about being left on the road when their batteries run out. To add to this the good news, current batteries can recharge much faster and more efficiently.
Another factor contributing to the difficult popularity of electric cars is their prohibitive costs. Although today almost every major car manufacturer has its own model in this category, they still produce them on a small scale, making production very expensive; costs that are liberally passed on to the buyer. It follows that even if some environmentally conscious people may want to have an electric car, they cannot afford one that meets their travel requirements. For example, Tesla models equipped with a 315-mile battery will cost between USD 134 500 and USD 135 500. This price range is much higher than the average car owner. It is encouraging, however, that since such improvements will increase their popularity, this will lead to mass production and ultimately to lower costs.
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These two things were the biggest obstacles to the electric car industry. However, as they are gradually being overcome, the electric car industry is being brought up for action. It is only a matter of time before they disrupt the status quo in the automotive industry. There have been no claims by car makers to be overwhelmed by stakeholders in the oil industry to release from their ambition to fill the world’s roads with electric cars. A classic example is GM EV1. However, nowadays the world is a thing of the past, that stage and it can finally be said that electric cars will compete favourably in the car market. Yes, yes! There is hope for the electric car industry.
