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  • Electric Vehicles’ Demand Not Up To Expectations

    Debate between Battery electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles still going on.

    In the previous decade the mismatch in the expectations of electric vehicles and the realities of the market has never been more if the experts are to be believed.

    In the year 2010, the CEO of Nissan, Carlos Ghosn had proclaimed that by the year 2020, 10 % of the vehicles in the world are going to be electric. This was the time when the automobile giant had introduced their electric vehicle Nissan Leaf EV. The car is still on sale till the date even after the career of Ghosn is in the ruins as he is awaiting a trial in Japan on financial malfeasance charges.

    In reality, the market globally for the plug-in vehicles which includes the electric vehicles which are run on battery and the gas-electric hybrids is at about 2% as 2020 is less than two months away.

    Image Credits: Forbes

    A decade is a time which can be termed as being more than enough for the development of a market for a new kind of vehicle. This is been the case many a times whether it was the transformation from muscle cars to the sedans to even minivans. The growth in the sales of Electric Vehicles has been so weak as compared to the expectations that it is being seen as a clear indication of people not wanting these cars fundamentally.

    USA which is considered to be the most competitive market has also seen that people do not want the hybrid cars. There is demand for SUVs as well as pickups. This is a trend which is good for the carmakers as they have high profitability, the very purpose of creation of electric vehicles which is climate change is being defeated currently with people not embracing electric cars.

  • Toyota And BYD Come Together For Building EVs

    Toyota Innova Crysta Electric Vehicle gets tested for use in Indian market

    BYD is a company which has been working for a very long time now on the electric vehicles; however, most of the EVs from the Chinese company particularly in the United States are right now the zero-emission buses. This looks like it is going to change specially in China as it was announced that Toyota and BYD are going to get into a new joint venture. This venture is going to focus on the developing and researching of the battery electric vehicles.

    The companies said that the new Joint Venture will be set up in 2020 in China as each of the companies is going to contribute 50% of the investment needed. The JV is going to develop and design all-electric vehicles which are going to include related parts and platforms. The resulting vehicles are destined for China as they will be made in a way to make them more attractive for the customers in China.

    The news is following an announcement made in the month of July. The announcement stated BYD and Toyota are going to consider coming together for the all-electric sedans and also low-floor SUVs.

    BYD
    Image Credits: Wikipedia

    They had then said that the batteries which were going to be developed by the companies is going to be for the SUVs and sedan models and is also going to be used for the other vehicles.

    The companies gave more details about how they are going to staff in this new JV as they are going to transfer BYD and Toyota engineers from the related jobs in R&D in the companies to this JV as per a new statement issued by the companies.

  • Volkswagen Begins Production Of Its Electric Car ID.3

    Volkswagen fails to meet its commitments in Rwanda

    The production of the electric car ID.3 has officially been started by the Volkswagen on Monday as the auto giant from Germany is looking to become a leader when it comes to the ever growing field which is e-mobility.

    A ceremony which had taken place at the Zwickau plant of Volkswagen had been attended by a host of important people including Angela Merkel, German Chancellor and the CEO of the company Herbert Diess.

    In his speech Diess has said that the vehicle is going to make a substantial contribution in the breaking through of the e-mobility sector. He added that this vehicle is making e-mobility accessible to loads of people and is an important milestone for their company as it is aiming to become climate-neutral by the year 2050.

    Volkswagen ID.3
    Volkswagen ID.3 (Image Credits: wikimedia.org)

    The website also had an announcement where Volkswagen had described that their electric offensive is now picking up speed. The vehicle is on track for its launch at the same time in the markets in Europe in the next summer which the basic version of the vehicle which is being marketed in Germany at an amount which is lower than $33,487.

    The facility in Zwickau is going through a conversion currently from being a factory which is a 100 % internal combustion engine one to becoming one that is solely going to produce electric vehicles. The redevelopment of the site is costing Volkswagen close to 1.2 billion euros and the company has said that from 2021 onwards the plant is going to have the capacity for producing as many as 330,000 electric vehicles every year.

    The company is planning for the launch of close to 70 models of electric cars by the year 2028.