It is assumed that by 2035 we will not be able to buy a car with a combustion engine in Europe, and there are many options today for almost any type of need, but many of the drivers who have opted for battery-powered cars have decided that they do not want an electric car, but want to return to the combustion engine.
What? Aren’t electric car buyers evangelists about these types of vehicles? It’s not hard to find EV advocates and content creators on social media who are constantly praising their electric vehicles. Some have even achieved a certain level of fame by talking only about Tesla.
According to a report from the consulting firm McKinsey, One third of electric vehicle buyers are considering switching back to internal combustion vehicles. They find electric cars a nuisance when it comes to long journeys. They do not allow long distances to be covered without stopping, although they can be done at a much lower cost. The technology is not yet ready and ultra-fast charging points are scarce and not very profitable.
There is no subsidy or model that can change this.
There are many plans to launch the cheap European electric car. Renault has launched its reissue of the Renault 5Citroën a new iteration of the Citroën C3 electric, Volkswagen Tesla is planning its own, etc. There have also been rumors about a cheaper entry-level model than what it offers now. But if consumers don’t want it, a thermal vehicle, even with mild hybridization, will always be cheaper, since it doesn’t have the most expensive element of an electric vehicle, the battery.
It is not a subsidy, like the current one. In Spain, owners get up to 4,500 euros if they scrap an old vehicle and buy a car with a certain range with an electric motor (it is valid for some plug-in hybrids). However, this subsidy usually takes time and also requires paying taxes, so it does not make electric cars cheaper.
But this defect of the electric car is not a defect of price, but of technology. The consumer wants to do the same thing he did with his old thermal car, recharge the vehicle’s energy in a few minutes to continue traveling, without making several stops.
Technologies that can change this are currently in the works. Several manufacturers have announced that they will soon have the solid state batteries, which would be cheaper and could be charged faster. Other technologies are also being considered, such as battery swapping, where we would swap our battery for another when we were travelling.
This is the option advocated by some manufacturers, such as the Chinese company NIO. However, for the moment, the electric car solution that buyers want does not seem to have arrived.
This is bad news for Tesla and in general all car manufacturers that have opted to bet on electric cars on a massive scale. Perhaps the technology we want is not yet available. Although it may be in a few years.
Source: www.elblogsalmon.com
