Photo: ABB.com
There are only a few things left that hold back a more wide-spread acceptance of the electric cars, but they are slowly being addressed.
One of them is the still limited capacity of the Li-Ion battery technology, but we've seen major progress lately coupled with a significant price decline, so things are definitely moving forward in this direction. Besides, it's not just the car industry that would benefit from more efficient batteries, which means there's no shortage of research funding.
The second is the people's perception of EVs. This is probably the hardest to deal with, but Tesla is doing a pretty good job by showing electric cars are anything but boring, and with plenty of other companies - including more traditional ones like GM or Mercedes-Benz - ready to offer their own similar products, more people will have the chance of experiencing an EV first-hand.
The third and final one is that of the infrastructure. You can tell this is a big problem by looking at what Tesla did. Realizing an electric car is nothing without a network of charging stations, it went and built one itself. That's not exactly ideal - mainly because charging stations should be standardized across the entire industry - but it served its purpose.
Europe is waking up to the idea that lots of cars will skip gas stations altogether pretty soon in search of a plug, so it's taking some actions. Two days ago, news of a network of ultra-fast chargers broke out, but there were just 25 of them scattered across four countries. They would, however, offer up to 350 kW of charging power, which is more than double the Tesla Supercharger's output.
At the same time, the EU (European Union) has just approved regulations that require any new house or apartment building to include electric car chargers starting 2019. What's more, the law would also apply to home renovations, Clean Technica reports.
That not only makes plenty of sense, but it's a very good idea. Just like real estate developers need to ensure they build enough parking spaces so they don't add to the cities' parking woes, installing electric chargers should also become a priority. And doing it while said property is being built or renovated is well thought-out too since it would also require the lowest costs for the owner or developer.
Buying a house with the option of charging an EV built into it is likely to give a lot of people the incentive to buy an electric car. It will take time, but for the first time, it does look like everyone agrees that this is the future of transportation. US, not it's your move.
The second is the people's perception of EVs. This is probably the hardest to deal with, but Tesla is doing a pretty good job by showing electric cars are anything but boring, and with plenty of other companies - including more traditional ones like GM or Mercedes-Benz - ready to offer their own similar products, more people will have the chance of experiencing an EV first-hand.
The third and final one is that of the infrastructure. You can tell this is a big problem by looking at what Tesla did. Realizing an electric car is nothing without a network of charging stations, it went and built one itself. That's not exactly ideal - mainly because charging stations should be standardized across the entire industry - but it served its purpose.
Europe is waking up to the idea that lots of cars will skip gas stations altogether pretty soon in search of a plug, so it's taking some actions. Two days ago, news of a network of ultra-fast chargers broke out, but there were just 25 of them scattered across four countries. They would, however, offer up to 350 kW of charging power, which is more than double the Tesla Supercharger's output.
At the same time, the EU (European Union) has just approved regulations that require any new house or apartment building to include electric car chargers starting 2019. What's more, the law would also apply to home renovations, Clean Technica reports.
That not only makes plenty of sense, but it's a very good idea. Just like real estate developers need to ensure they build enough parking spaces so they don't add to the cities' parking woes, installing electric chargers should also become a priority. And doing it while said property is being built or renovated is well thought-out too since it would also require the lowest costs for the owner or developer.
Buying a house with the option of charging an EV built into it is likely to give a lot of people the incentive to buy an electric car. It will take time, but for the first time, it does look like everyone agrees that this is the future of transportation. US, not it's your move.
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