Rethinking design, needs around electric cars

Considering costs first, industry commentators are expecting electric vehicles to hit the local market at approximately 20% higher than their petrol counterparts are, which is not an affordable option to most people. However, this angle and justification of why EV sales will not take off is a wrong one. It is not about weighing up the extra cost of capital to the consumer and trying to offset this value with the fuel savings.

There is far more to the story. There is a large percentage of people who will opt to 'buy down' and choose a less luxurious electric vehicle for savings in petrol costs and other factors such as reduced service costs and the environment.

If one's budgeted price range for a vehicle is R300k and an electric model, with a less luxurious spec, is introduced at the same price, the electric model may well be considered in place of the more luxurious petrol powered option, due to the savings in energy costs, which we are putting in at around 75-80%. This is calculated, using the electric vehicles' usage pattern of around 15kWh per 100 km at R20, versus the current average petrol vehicles' usage pattern of R100 of fuel per 100km.

Battery charging not an issue

Another area of concern was around the infrastructure that supports battery charging for electric vehicles. The South African reality is that 70% of car travel is used for commuting to work and back, plus other short trips which are usually below a distance of the current battery range of approximately 150 km, so a plug point at home and maybe at the office is more than sufficient. At this point, the installation of power points in petrol garages is not a priority or a real necessity, until fast booster charge technology comes into play, which it will.

So why is the shift to electric motoring moving at such a slow pace when the people and businesses the world over are making big, bold steps to go green?

One reason is the limited range of vehicles and people worry that they may need to travel further than the battery range on the odd occasion. That is why car rental and car pool companies exist and the sooner people become comfortable with their needs being met by rental rather than ownership, the quicker this paradigm will break. Europe is fast moving in this direction and will take to EV travel faster than South Africa.

Futuristic designs needed

Another hurdle could be that manufacturers are trying to build these electric powered cars to look like and carry the same number of passengers, as the conventional car. This could be linked to the market's desire for the EV car to look like a normal car.

The most practical and efficient EV design and solutions will probably come from outside the typical manufacturer space, as there is a need to break out of the mould and blinkers here. The ideal EV vehicle for work commuter purposes is far smaller and lighter, with two doors and seats and a very different configuration and design.

The level of doubt in the industry is reducing rapidly, electric vehicles are becoming the order of the 'near future' day and society will deliberate less over environmental decisions as these fast become the expected norms.

The conventional motor manufacturer is far behind where they could and should have been in this space by now and one senses that this is fast becoming a case of hurry up and change fast or become the subject of those not too distant dinner table discussions of 'remember that motor manufacturer'.