For the past two years it has been almost impossible to pass through London’s Heathrow airport without encountering a billboard advertising BMW’s electrified car range, the i3 and i8. The walkway to one of the main airport hotels, at the flagship Terminal 5, has been similarly decorated.
London was one of the three cities chosen by BMW for the simultaneous launch of the i3 in July 2013. The UK capital is by no means the only target of BMW’s marketing offensive, but as a city which likes to promote itself as one of the most EV-friendly in the world, it was singled out as a key conquest area.
But why bother? Even in the UK, where there are government grants of up to £5,000 (US$7,500) to buy an ultra-low-emissions car, and the Mayor of London waives the £10 (US$15) fee levied on combustion-engined cars to enter parts of the city on weekdays, the take-up of EVs has been tiny. Sales in 2012 stood at just over 2,000. In a market of more than two million, that amounts to one in 1,000.
That may be partially down to the limited choice of all-electric cars until now, but Renault-Nissan – which currently dominates the EV market – believes the entry of BMW, along with Daimler, Volkswagen and Ford, will give the sector additional credibility.
Daimler plans to introduce a battery-electric version of the B-Class, Ford has launched an electric Focus and Volkswagen will do the same with the Golf. All will be at the upper end of the price spectrum, in contrast to the policy now being pursued by Renault and Nissan, although Volkswagen is hedging its bets by producing an electric version of the diminutive up!.
All of this means that two of the German premium brands will have all-electric cars on sale by early next year, as will two of the five largest automotive groups – Volkswagen and Ford. And towards the end of 2014 they will be joined by a third: Hyundai-Kia.
While Hyundai has been tasked with trying to make the hydrogen fuel cell a commercial viability, Kia has been quietly developing the group’s battery-electric technology. This will be seen in the Soul EV, the group’s first global commercial electric car, towards the end of 2014.
Kia developed the Soul’s drive components over a three-year period by building 2,000 electric versions of the Ray, a domestic-market urban runabout, as mobile test beds for use by Korean official agencies. The Ray EV was particularly important in developing the Soul’s lithium-ion polymer batteries. “We have been focusing a lot of our research and development on a robust battery system,” Kia says.
The Soul has a 27kWh battery and 81.4kW motor to give it what Kia claims will be a class-leading range of more than 200km (125 miles), with performance similar to a small combustion-engined car. The charge time using a standard domestic socket has also been cut, from six to five hours, or it can be fast-charged to 80% of capacity in 25 minutes.
Yet two of the big five OEMs – Toyota and General Motors – remain resolutely unconvinced by all-electric cars, citing range and cost as the major barriers to widespread acceptance by consumers. Both are pinning their faith on plug-in hybrids, or “range-extenders” as GM prefers to call its Chevrolet Volt and Opel/Vauxhall Ampera. The Tokyo Show later this month may well reveal whether either has had a change of heart.
Even Beatrice Foucher, the Vice President of the Electric Vehicle Programme at Renault, one of the staunchest supporters of EVs, admits that, for now, they are mainly second cars in wealthy households which can take advantage of any tax breaks they bring. Meanwhile, there’s an SUV or a saloon on the drive for use on other occasions.
However, all volume manufacturers will need to offer at least one EV by the end of this decade to meet the increasingly stringent Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) regulations in the US and the fleet average CO2 targets being contemplated by the EU.
Europe, under pressure from German OEMs with support from those in seven other nations, may have temporarily postponed a vote on its plans to impose a 95g/km average for 2020, but the elephant remains in the room.
One way to make EVs more cost-effective, for OEMs as well as consumers, is to develop modular drive systems which can be adapted for a variety of electrified powertrains.
It is the policy being pursued by several OEMs, including Hyundai-Kia. At the unveiling of the Soul EV, the engineering team behind the car said: “We have modular batteries, power electronics and motors which we will use to develop all types of electrification technology.”
Kia has been developing hybrid technology since 1996, and it is now available in the Optima. “We plan to be in mass production with plug-in hybrids in the near future,” an engineer told Automotive World, adding, “All forms of electrification have their limitations, whether it be range, cost or emissions, but the world of energy for transport is moving towards sustainability.”
Roger Stansfield
About the author: Roger Stansfield is a freelance automotive industry journalist based in London. He covers all aspects of the automotive industry, with a particular focus on future technology.
