The Surge of Electric Vehicles - Know all about them!
A few months back this
year, Elon Musk had reportedly (and quite famously) replied to a tweet that had
asked him whether or not he would initiate business in India. He had said, “If
Tesla is able to succeed with imported vehicles, then a factory in India is
quite likely.”
According to several
industry analysts, it may so happen that as years pass on, car showrooms here
in India as well as abroad, may start looking a tad different with BEVs
(Battery electric vehicles), HEVs (Hybrid electric vehicles) and PHEVs (Plug in
hybrid electric vehicles) up for grabs. With our environment needing more and
more attention and citizens becoming increasingly aware, the automobile market
space may soon be flooded with all types of electric vehicles from noted car
makers starting from Audi and culminating in Volkswagen.
Since I am writing this
piece on the surge of electric vehicles, I only see it fitting to answer a few
very persistent and common aspects with regards to the surge and the sustenance
of electric vehicles.
First and foremost, let us take into consideration the several players that are dabbling and foraying into this area:
The
key players operating in the EV marketspace include, Tesla, BMW group, Toyota,
Nissan, Hyundai motor group, Volkswagen, General Motors which account for
majority of the market share. All these players are tirelessly competing with
one another in terms of the features that they offer in their electric
vehicles, so as to create value for their end users. Take for instance, Hyundai.
Perhaps, while travelling by an electric car, most people would want to check
the location of the electric car charging station. Although using navigation
might just guide them to the location of the charging station on their route,
customers, more often than not, need additional information on the travel time,
with charging time included and also waiting time at the charging station.
In this context, Hyundai, has integrated their electric vehicles with the
“Hi-Charger” application which provides functions such as searching electric
vehicle charging stations across the country, booking charging stations amongst
other functionalities. It also optimizes and chooses a charging station
available along the route and recommends using optimised routes for individual
driving patterns. Such exclusive features can make the players appear even more
versatile and can give that much desirable “competitive edge” to that
particular market player!
Secondly, let us try and understand as to why, all of a sudden, the popularity of electric vehicles has surged?
The answer to this question is the exponential increase for low emission and fuel-efficient vehicles. Gasoline, which provides us with the fuel that we run our petrol/diesel fuelled vehicles is highly anticipated to run out in the near future thus leaving mankind with no other choice other than to explore alternative fuel sources. Electric powered cars seem to be the perfect solution for the time being which aptly explains the sudden surge and popularity of electric vehicles. The graph below, clearly showcases that the EV market is slowly but steadily gaining momentum!
Third, what is the main reason for the high cost of EVs? Why do people still buy them despite their exorbitant prices?
The driving factor for
the exceptionally high cost of EVs is the expense that goes into manufacturing
the premium lithium-ion batteries that are an intrinsic part of all
electrically powered vehicles. The costs of the entire supply and manufacturing
chain are eventually passed on to the end users. To answer the question as to
why people are still going for EVs, I would like to take you all back to the
impending fact that our environment is steadily losing its sheen. Its glory.
With all kinds of greenhouse gases being emitted due to regular usage of
gasoline powered vehicles, our ambience is bearing the brunt of it all while
our resources are also getting depleted on a large scale. It should be
mentioned in this regard, that environmental considerations may be just one
amongst several reasons.
In fact, according to
research conducted, the findings of which were partially revealed in an
Economic Times article published on August 10, 2021, only a handful of American
citizens cited environmental concerns/considerations as the primary driving
factor for buying an EV. Most of the respondents were besotted with the
technological novelty and were more or less influenced by their family and
friends!
The final aspect that I would like to touch upon is: Which country has surged ahead the most when it comes to buying electric vehicles? Well, although several countries have indeed taken baby steps towards achieving a cleaner and greener future with electric vehicles, China happens to boast of the largest EV market, followed by Europe and then the United States.
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