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E-MOBILITY
Electric Cars in the New Decade Much depends on making breakthroughs in battery technologies in making electric cars cheaper, safer, and practical for increased customer acceptance and market appeal in the 2020s. At the dawn of a new decade, we are left to ponder over the future of automobiles. The technological landscape of the global industry appears way too ephemeral and constantly changing lately, leaving its stakeholders with profound awe and scepticism at the same time. Although automotive technologies were never constant before and the industry always comes up with a new bunch of buzzwords time and again, the decade passed by was quite different and decisive. The 2010s took the tech tales of electrification, connected vehicles, and autonomous driving to whole new heights, also deep down to the psyche of end-users. And, it is upon this pinnacle of technological maturation that we are left to imagine the prophecy of the auto industry in the 2020s!
Take for instance the term 'Electrification'. It is on the lips of everyone living in the auto town these days, a word that is suggested as a chant to all sorts of emission 'sins', while also causing all manners of confusions. Electrification is upon the industry and here to stay in varying forms, thanks to phenomenal environmental consciousness among the masses in the recent decades, not to forget the infamous 'diesel-gate' scandals that shook the world. On the other hand, things aren't as clear as we would expect. The policymakers are pushing for electrification - at times without even knowing the complete picture and nitty-gritty; automakers say they are bucking it up - with cunningly-worded vision statements we don't know how are they going to pan out; and consumers are asked to ponder over new alternatives when they are not yet down to earth.
But one thing is clear. The 'electric' age is here and EVs are the next big things, outrunning connected or autonomous vehicles. They are to eclipse internal-combustion engines (ICEs) for sure someday when these techs are evolved on-par and their prices coming to some parity - to become the real 'alternatives' to their ICE counterparts. However, the questions of 'when' and 'how' (by what means - battery-electric, fuel cell, or whatever) is a Pandora's box and subject to fierce and divergent speculations. A common and most-plausible take on the conundrum is that the consumer acceptance of EVs is greatly dependent on making them cheaper, safer, and practical as ICE vehicles, which again is dependent on the efficacy of battery technologies and charging infrastructure to support the end-users. Easier said than done!
Battery affairs
There can be no understatement that battery technologies are fast improving. The 2010s saw strident progress in lithium-ion battery technologies, something that was limited to powering mobile phones and tiny gadgets at the beginning to the decade leaped forward to startle electric cars and buses as well. Their application in EVs is also witnessing significant improvements, for instance, the latest iteration of e-cars like VW e-up! or Skoda e-Citigo are equipped with battery
| January-February 2020
