A higher price than combustion cars and poor distribution of chargers: these are the main barriers that the electric car must face to become a majority trend. From here we ask ourselves, when will that moment come?
There is a marked disagreement between optimistic and sceptical studies, with data that vary depending on the consultant conducting the research, so an analysis of the information provided by the two sides is necessary to determine how far the change is still in the automotive sector.
Challenges: why might it take so long to arrive?
Quite a few people claim that movements that favour electric mobility are marginal. The most extreme voices claim that in many cases they may be more related to social responsibility marketing issues than to a real commitment to support the initiative and change the sector.
In 2016, less than 1% of new vehicle sales were electric. Predictions such as that of the US oil company ExxonMobil state that by 2040 the situation will not have improved significantly: only 10% of new sales will be of electric cars in the United States.
The current infrastructure and its growth plans must also be improved. Some organizations are helping to change this panorama, but new solutions and support are still needed to make it easier in the future for cars to access urban centers and park in spaces where they can be loaded.
Battery life remains one of the biggest barriers to the sale of electric cars. While companies such as Tesla manage to increase their capacity progressively, sometimes through renewable energy, the price of these vehicles rises in some countries while complicating the technology of their components.
But we are not only talking about small vehicles, what about trucks and planes? There are other formulas, such as natural gas for vehicles, to achieve a reduction in emissions and a more sustainable environment, but the electric track is still in the process of improvement for long-distance heavy transport.
Opportunities: why should it come sooner than it seems?
Not everything is a challenge. It is important to know that there is a growing number of analyses that ensure that the rate of growth of electric car sales is increasing and that predict a short-term future where electric mobility can match traditional combustion.
But what could be the reason for this increase? Experts say that there are two factors that determine the change in trend: the price of batteries and the state plans of European and Asian countries, which encourage improved sales of vehicles.
Although the technology used is becoming increasingly complex, the base price of batteries continues to fall. According to Bloomberg’s report, by 2030 the price of the two types of vehicles would be equal, even without subsidies from the countries themselves. In fact, according to this analysis, for that year the batteries would have gone from costing 300 dollars per Kwh to only 73.
But the predictions do not stop there, according to Bloomberg’s own report, by 2040 54% of new sales will be of electric and hybrid vehicles, surpassing combustion cars for the first time. Brands like Volkswagen and Tesla have plans to produce up to a million electric vehicles by 2025. They are not the only ones to confirm their bet: Volvo has announced that from 2019 all its new vehicles will be electric and hybrid.
The Paris Agreement was signed in April 2016 to fight climate change and, in order to meet its proposals to keep global warming below 2 degrees, it is necessary to reach a percentage of 40% of electric vehicles of the total by 2040.
This will undoubtedly continue to push countries and organizations to improve a sector that is forced to change to remain sustainable. The challenges are before us and the search for solutions is necessary so that the most positive predictions are fulfilled: we trust in a responsible future that could be much closer than you think.
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The future recharging system for cars without a driver
Charging systems for mobile phones and other everyday objects without cables are now a reality. They are electromagnetic or induction charging systems, since their operation is based on the generation of an electromagnetic field by an energy emitter and reception by another object. For example, the mobile phone. For some years now, the start up WiTricity develops the same technology but with large batteries to recharge electric cars.
The operation is the same: the vehicle is placed on top of the emitter and charged thanks to electromagnetic energy. It is therefore an important development for charging cars without a driver. They can be driven into a parking space and charged automatically without having to be plugged in.