 The electric car is a big talking point. And electric cars in fact played a big role at the beginning of the motorization process. Until the beginning of the last century, there was intense competition between petrol and electric cars in the battle for supremacy. The drawbacks of electric motors were not so obvious, as long as the emphasis was on transport within towns. Only with the advance of the car and the desire to travel long distances did the petrol and then the diesel engine advance to the fore. With the emergence of the CO2 debate, interest in electric drives has been rekindled. An important factor here is without doubt the fact that huge progress has been made in battery technology.
Battery technology is the big obstacle
In the debate about electric drives, the biggest obstacle is seen in battery technology, with safety and cost being the overriding issues along with capacity. Development work in these areas looks very promising although the nationwide use of the relevant technologies still meets with a good deal of reservation.
As to the provision of the primary energy necessary for the operation of electric cars, so far the main issue has been the actual CO2 reduction potential of electric cars in their bid to replace petrol and diesel vehicles. According to various statements, a changeover to electric cars against the background of today’s energy mix would indeed result in a CO2 reduction.
In terms of overall cost, electric cars today are more expensive than petrol and diesel cars. The reason for this is the higher cost of purchase, which is mainly due to the batteries costing some 12,000 euros. Even if assuming that the batteries will last as long as the vehicle as a whole, electric is still significantly dearer than petrol or diesel.
Two waves
The first wave will be marked by the use of electric cars in pilot projects and in public and private vehicle fleets. Not until the second wave, which is set to start in the middle of the next decade, are electric cars expected to make inroads into the broad mass of the population.
The target segment for electric cars is small and compact vehicles. These are driven preferentially in towns with limited daily mileage. Furthermore, because of the existing infrastructure, a relatively dense network of electricity filling stations can be established with comparatively little effort.
The electric car will be the driving force behind future drive technology in the car sector – but not until after 2020. And even beyond this date, improved petrol and diesel engines will occupy a large share of the market.
The car of tomorrow
 Along with the central issue of what we will drive in the future, developers have also taken up the cause of safety, the vision of “zero road deaths”. Even today, our cars have ingenious safety systems. In the future, on-board systems will become even more intelligent – equipped with sensors and efficient computers, the car will be given “eyes” and “ears”. Each vehicle will network with others and thus become part of a far-reaching traffic system.
The materials that car bodies are made of will also undergo further development. Progress in steel and steel alloys, light metals and plastics will result in materials that save a great deal of weight. The body of the Smart Fortwo, for instance, is already made entirely of the plastic polypropylene. In future lightweight construction, a variety of materials will probably be combined according to the particular requirements. This trend will impose new challenges on bodyshops who will have to come to terms with more complex substrates.
Apart from these technology-driven advances, industry has also discovered the low-budget car in recent years. The Dacia Logan was the first to provide affordable mobility at a price of about 7,500 euros. The Tata Nano will continue this move. In the newly industrialized nations, this trend will also facilitate the mobility essential for the next phase of economic growth.
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