The Future of Electric Cars

Electric vehicles were the major craze all through 2013, especially after Tesla motors delved into the market with full force. Competitors have raised their heads too, with Toyota, Ford, Honda and General Motors giving this idea their try.

Inasmuch as these vehicles have attracted reasonable attention, the idea is still in its formative stages because they have only made an almost insignificant fraction of the total automobile sales. The most important thing now is for stakeholders to determine where the idea of electric vehicles stalls and the future that it holds. Every step should be made to ensure that this idea bears fruit. If the current trends hold, the following should be expected with regard to electric vehicles.

What Demand do they Have?

At the moment, there has been a light sale of electric vehicles. Take an example of the U.S market for instance only 10,100 electric vehicles were sold out of a total 1.23 million light trucks and passenger cars that were sold in October.

The demand for these vehicles has gradually increased, especially due to the fame that model S has gained but the market is still wanting. While the demand for these vehicles continued to rise after the month of October, it remains a concern as to whether these vehicles will remain attractive in future. Is there a possibility of people giving electric vehicles a preference over internal combustion automobiles?

Can they Stand the Competition?

The propagation of this idea saw a stalling demand because the Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt vehicles that were introduced to test the technology and determine what it is that the buyers needed actually failed to show the possibility of a potential market.

This is when Tesla took over the mantle, redesigning the whole system by altering the chassis as well as the entire production process to conform to the requirements of an electric vehicle. This led to the production of Model S, which became a hit of the year.

This innovation was perhaps a sure prove that an efficient electric vehicle can be produced. Even so, the question still remains whether a better part of the industry will capitalize on the idea that Tesla had already explored.

There is still a big challenge in the industry for manufacturers to produce a wide range of electric vehicles that will meet the expectations of various customers.

The Required Change

In its present state, the electric vehicle has no potential of attracting enough demand because it only has a range of 100 miles and the charge duration remains hours. If this range could be extended to 300 miles with a significant reduction of the charge duration to minutes, then it will be the most significant improvement.

Several research programs are underway to advance knowledge towards this direction. The Illinois institute of Technology for example, in collaboration with Argonne National Laboratory, took a federal grant worth $3.4 million. They are set to increase the electric vehicle range per charge so that it stands between 500 and 1000 miles.

The Final Word

Is it too early to postulate the future of electric cars? Well, some may argue that it is too early to give a sure answer but on the contrary, the market is much promising. The first stumbling block has already been overcome that of showing how possible it is to produce electric vehicles with a reasonable range, thanks to model S.

The next move perhaps should be the production of more attractive vehicles. Tesla has done its part, and may not be in a position to improve its scales in line with modern technology. To its help, however, come companies such as BMW, General Motors, Ford and Nissan.

Electric technology would be the most lucrative way to go in terms of automobile improvement because it does not take sophisticated infrastructure to start and run a manufacturing plant. For now, some of the problems that the industry is facing might find reasonable solutions soon because there is a lot of research and resources that have been channeled into the project.

If manufacturers are keen on working out the concerns that the prospective market has, then there is a possibility that the demand for these vehicles will rise significantly. Focus now shifts to the ongoing research to see the ideas that might be of help.