EVs may be the future, but just not right now
Print Edition
It took one 330-kilometer trip from Chongqing to Chengdu in his Nio ES8, a seven-seater all-electric SUV, for its owner Wang Haichun to be consumed with buyer’s remorse.
Despite being billed as capable of going 335 kilometers on a single full charge, the ES8 didn’t get anywhere near that when driving on freeways at speeds above 100 kilometers an hour, he said, adding that after 180 kilometers, there was only 50 kilometers of range left.
“We had to recharge the car once and drove with a high level of anxiety throughout, constantly having to keep an eye on the range meter,” the 44-year-old manager of a property firm said. Toward the end of the trip, he shut off the air conditioner and audio system.
Nio Inc said in a statement the ES8 can travel more than 200 kilometers when constantly driven at 100 kilometers an hour and that battery swap stations are available for quick recharging. It did not address Nio’s advertising of 335 kilometers on a single full charge.
In real world conditions, all-electric cars can sometimes fall far short of advertised ranges, car engineers say. That’s particularly so when driving at length on freeways or hilly terrain and in hot or cold weather.
The problem adds to drawbacks which have hindered wider acceptance — EVs have shorter driving ranges than gasoline vehicles, are more expensive and take a long time to recharge.
China, Europe and California have set ambitious requirements for automakers to dramatically increase EV sales over the next five to 10 years, but those goals are at risk unless EVs can come close to matching gasoline engine cars in cost and ease of use.
In China, some of the industry’s biggest names believe pure battery electric cars will be as cheap as gasoline counterparts by 2025. Those making that prediction include Ouyang Minggao, executive vice president of the EV100 forum.
“The turning point is coming. We believe that around 2025, the price of pure electric vehicles will achieve a big breakthrough,” he said.
Ouyang cited a reduction in battery costs to US$100 per kilowatt hours from US$150-US$200 and a tightening of emissions rules in China. But others in the EV industry are less optimistic.
“Sure, there’s an EV boom but hybrids and plug-in hybrids will be needed as bridging technologies,” said a veteran EV engineer at Honda Motor Co.
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