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Car makers are
focusing on early electric vehicle challenges, such as charging
infrastructure and driver wariness, as mass market launches of many
models draw near, executives told the Reuters Global Autos Summit.
As carbon dioxide
emission legislation tightens, car makers are looking to full electric,
hybrid, and plug-in hybrid technology to cut emissions. Thierry Koskas,
head of French car maker Renault’s electric vehicle project, told the
summit on Monday electric vehicles would account for around 5 percent
of the world car market by 2016.
Mr. Koskas
reiterated a longer-term forecast by Renault chief executive, Carlos
Ghosn, who said EVs could account for one in 10 new car sales by 2020.
Mr. Koskas said the ramp-up would be gradual: “Probably in 2016, it
will be half of that.”
Renault, with
Japanese alliance partner, Nissan Motor Co Ltd., is aggressively
pushing electric vehicles – the two partners are investing 4 billion
euros together in such cars.
Other manufacturers are less optimistic
Allan Rushforth,
vice president of Hyundai Motor Europe, told the summit, at the Paris
office of Reuters: “We believe hybrids and electric vehicles are a
long-term proposition. The 10-year share of the European market for
those vehicles is probably single digit.”
Mr. Koskas added:
“One of the limits is the adoption ratio, how quickly people will move
to the new technology. That is something we observe in a lot of
industries – when you introduce CD, DVD, Blu-ray, you have early
adopters who jump straight away and people who wait.”
Charging stations
Nissan’s Leaf takes
to the roads of some European markets early next year, while Renault’s
Kangoo and Fluence electric models are due to go on sale in September
2011.
The French carmaker’s Twizzy mini-vehicle and Zoe urban car models will be available from the second half of 2012.
Mr. Koskas said a
less-powerful version of the Twizzy would be launched for drivers over
16 years old who do not yet have a licence.
Carmakers are
scrambling to ensure charging stations are in place at car parks,
supermarkets, and on streets to ease anxiety about the distances
vehicles can travel before needing a top-up.
Renault and Nissan
together have around 80 partnerships with local authorities, national
governments, and businesses to get charging points in place.
Green technologies
are in focus in Europe, as the first mass-market EVs, including PSA
Peugeot Citroen’s iOn and C-Zero, based on Mitsubishi’s iMiEV, prepare
to take to the roads.
Early sales of
fully electric vehicles are not expected to reach high numbers and will
mostly be to businesses, but the first few thousand cars will road-test
charging points and give an idea of the technology’s potential.
Gildo Pallanca
Pastor, chief executive of Monaco-based electric sportscar maker,
Venturi, told the summit his company is working on two- and
three-wheeled models.
Venturi may open up its capital to investors to help fund its growing series of electric vehicle projects, he said.
Venturi, which
sells the Fetish electric sports car for around 300,000 euros, also has
a deal in place with France’s PSA Peugeot Citroen to deliver electric
Berlingo vans.
It also plans to
start production of the Eclectic, a small car with solar panels, late
next year, and this year set a world EV speed record of 515 kilometres
per hour.
Reuters