Views: 0 Author: Site Editor Publish Time: 2020-07-22 Origin: Site
Beijing time on July 21st news, according to \"Forbes\" report, Europe’s leaning towards electric vehicles means that diesel locomotives will become even more undesirable for consumers with fixed income by 2030, and European automakers must develop An affordable electric car.
But they seem to be heading towards a dead end, trying to develop expensive electric cars that reflect all the functions of traditional cars and Tesla is struggling with Tesla in the high-end market, instead of producing electric cars suitable for the mass market.
Therefore, unless the affordability of electric vehicles is significantly improved, there will be a large number of consumers who cannot afford such products. However, due to the existence of mass market demand, European automakers also face the risk of market share being squeezed by Chinese electric vehicle products such as Baojun E.
In fact, what the mass market needs is not an electric car that is comparable to Tesla in the high-end market, let alone an electric car that can have all the functions of an internal combustion engine car. What they need is a completely different product. Such products only need to be able to meet the limited functional needs of shopping, commuting and picking up children, and more importantly, they must be cheap and durable.
Automakers should abandon some lofty goals and launch products similar to golf, because for consumers at the average income level, long-distance travel may require taking a train instead of driving by themselves.
Of course, European automakers have begun to introduce more affordable models, such as this Volkswagen SEAT Mii electric car, but despite this, the prices of these models are still not cheap. This petite and cute city car is priced at £22,745 before government subsidies after taxes in the UK, which is about twice the cost of entry-level gasoline-powered models in the market.
However, due to Germany's aggressive incentive policies, electric vehicles are setting off a boom in the country. According to data from Evercore ISI, an investment research organization, according to Germany’s short-term economic stimulus plan to ease the impact of the epidemic, the government provided a large subsidy of more than 10,000 euros for electric vehicles, resulting in a dealer with 50 stores to provide Renault Zoe electric vehicles Free rental service.
The agency joked in a recent report, \"There is no free lunch, but there are free electric cars.\"
Other German leasing companies are joining, and Leasing Time offers an electric BMW Mini of 32,000 euros, with a monthly rent of only 157 euros. But this is only a short-term boost. To achieve long-term goals, drastic actions are required, and current products have not yet met the requirements.
It may take 20 years for electric vehicles to become more affordable
Both Seat and Skoda under Volkswagen have launched electric products. The latter produces the Citigo-e iV, a sister model of the Volkswagen e Up. SEAT Mii is very fast, like a kart, it can travel freely in the city.
Although the performance data of this model is somewhat unsatisfactory: 0-60 miles acceleration time is slightly over 12 seconds, the top speed is only 81 miles per hour, but due to the existence of electric torque, in the process of driving to the maximum speed, the car will Respond immediately, and the driving experience is excellent at normal highway cruising speeds.
The problem is that at this speed, unless it is a Tesla, the battery capacity of small electric vehicles will drop at an alarming rate. Therefore, this car is not suitable for running at high speeds. Its 171-mile range pales in comparison to slightly more expensive new electric vehicles such as Renault Zoe and Peugeot 208 e, which have a range of 240 miles and 220 miles, respectively.
IHS Markit analyst Tim Urkhart bluntly pointed out: \"If you are not a true electric car fan, you would not spend such a large sum of money to buy an electric car like the SEAT Mii. Unless the car manufacturer The price can be reduced, otherwise this type of model will be difficult to sell in the market.\"
Urkhart also pointed out that with the shift from personal ownership to commercial solutions for mobile travel, the future will change dramatically.
At that time, people can call for electric self-driving cars at any time through mobile apps. However, this may take another 20 years to achieve. Moran Price, CEO of Israeli startup IRP Systems irpsystems.com, said that electric vehicles will become more affordable in the future, but this requires digitization, and this new era will begin with electric scooters and bicycle rentals.
IRP Systems produces conventional electric powertrain products for electric scooters, electric motorcycles, four-wheelers and electric vehicles. Price further emphasized that the government is promoting the electrification of the auto industry, but this will eventually be achieved without incentives. In the long run, the cost of electric vehicles will fall. What consumers need is a car that does not cause pollution but is value for money.
The affordability of electric vehicles requires the emergence of new business models
Price pointed out: \"Only technological breakthroughs can achieve this goal. We are currently in the process of this major breakthrough, helping to achieve large-scale applications by reducing costs. Now everything is changing, and people are creating new ecosystems. And new business models.\"
Victor Ill, an analyst at consulting firm EV-volumes in Stockholm, Sweden, believes that electric vehicles will become more affordable, which is mainly driven by two factors, one of which is economies of scale.
If mass production is carried out, just like Volkswagen’s Golf, then production costs will drop, and battery costs will also drop year by year. Take Tesla Model S as an example. The first battery capacity is only 40kWh, but now it has reached 100kWh, and the battery cost is also lower. The battery cost of electric vehicles will drop from 1/3 of the total cost to about 15%.
IHS Markit's Urkhart also pointed out that the use of modular design will help reduce the manufacturing cost of electric vehicles. The use of a universal platform with only one design for production throughout the industry helps simplify processes and reduce costs, and automakers can add their own differentiated functions. The automotive industry may have to reduce cost levels on such a scale.
Volkswagen has stated that the technical basis of the company's upcoming electric vehicles and SUV series, namely the modular electric platform MEB, is expected to be applicable to the entire industry. The platform will become the basis for a series of new cars such as the ID.3 sedan to be launched in September, and will build 15 million electric cars for the public by 2025.
In the next ten years, the cost of electric vehicles may be the same as entry-level diesel locomotives
Urkhart finally pointed out that with the development of the industry, technology and economies of scale are likely to reduce the cost of driving electric vehicles to the level of 10,000 pounds within ten years, which is roughly the same as the cost of current entry-level internal combustion engines.
The auto industry will have to do this because many consumers cannot afford the current prices of electric vehicles, and the auto industry must provide them with affordable options.
Urkhart emphasized that the price of electric vehicles will gradually drop and become more competitive and attractive than the current ones. But if \"golf cart\" is a better solution, it may give consumers another choice, that is, electric cars in the future may retain many functions similar to traditional cars.
