On the Horizon?
It’s not the heyday of the electric car, not yet, at least. Car magazines in the early 1990s claimed that electric cars were the next big thing, then it came to a sudden screeching halt. The 2006 Documentary, Who Killed the Electric Car, sheds light on this sector of the automotive industry in the mid-’90s (specifically the General Motors EV1). Sure, hybrid vehicles are doing a lot to normalize “non-traditional” powertrains, but they are by definition, not Electric Vehicles.
A New Kind of EV
So what’s causing the resurgence of the EV? Two things: Performance and battery technology. With the advent of Tesla, auto manufacturers (new and old) are scrambling to create electric vehicles that have range, reliability, and really good specs. The fact that you can drive 300 miles on one charge (triple the distance of previous EVs) is astonishing. On the other hand, the longevity of these batteries is still an issue and they are very expensive to replace. For 2020, China’s Qiantu Motors plans to release its 400-HP K50 EV. Jalopnik maintains that “The Qiantu K50 gets a claimed 402 horsepower from a 78 kWh battery pack powering two motors, with a range of about 236 miles on a charge.” That’s a far cry from GM’s EV1, that had a max range of 100-140 miles and less than 140 horsepower in its last iteration.
The Market
With foreign and domestic automakers creating new EVs, things appear rosy for the electric car; but are they the future? It’s tough to say, gas prices are relatively low at the moment and auto manufacturers are saying SUV sales are up year over year. Moreover, not everyone is in the market for an expensive high-performance car. My prediction: Unless auto manufacturers design EVs more like the average family SUV, while simultaneously lowering the price point, the era of electric cars is still decades away.
Not Quite Yet
Don’t get me wrong, I think the industry is moving in an electric direction, but it all seems sort of gimmicky. An average family of four doesn’t have a use for the 400-HP K50 coupe and most can’t afford the $84,000 Model X as their “family truckster.” Until there are key industry changes, it is likely that crossovers and SUV’s with fuel-efficient combustion engines will continue to dominate the automotive industry. However, I think the heyday of the electric car is on the horizon, it all just depends on how much visibility automakers have.