Electric vehicle market - driving things forward

Thank you Steve McDonald and Paul Street for having highlighted key developments in the UK Electric Vehicle market:

Why Electric Vehicles?

  • Improvement of air quality and supports the urgent need to move away from fossil fuels
  • Savings on petrol costs
  • Subsidy up to £4,500 for car purchase. Zero road tax. Zero London congestion charge
  • Vehicle makes virtually no noise
  • Much simpler build, far less parts therefore easier and cheaper to maintain
  • Stable driving as the battery weight is spread evenly along the bottom of the vehicle
  • More space in the car since there is no engine, only a flat battery along the bottom
  • Fast acceleration
  • Energy conversion rate using the internal combustion engine only 40%
  • Conversion of electricity into forward motion energy in an EV well above 90%
  • Efficient regenerative braking - motor put into reverse generating electricity put into the battery
  • £6 billion of EV investment made in last 2 years
  • In 2013, 3,500 EVs on UK roads. In 2017, 107,000 EVs. One million predicted by 2020
  • Choice of 55 EVs in 2017. Up from a choice of 9 in 2011
  • An EV to suit every budget, from Renault Twizy at around £7,000 to Tesla model S - top range up to £100,000
  • Dyson is investing £2 billion into developing a EV, expected to launch in 2020
  • From 2019, all new Volvo cars will have electric or hybrid engines
  • Audi is working to develop solar cells that can be integrated into the panoramic glass roofs
17 Oct 2017