Electric vehicles are becoming very popular in this modern age because of the environment concern. Be it a hybrid, plug-in hybrid or complete-electric, the demand for electric vehicles will continue to increase as the price will drop and consumers will look for ways to save money for fuel. It would be very interesting to know the Present, Past and Future of Electric Vehicles.
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Journey of EVs : Present, Past & Future of Electric Vehicles
Today in this article we are with the roadmap of the EVs revolution. EVs are among us from last 150+ years and time-to-time some good eye-opening inventions and changes take place. And here we are talking about all those inventions, modifications, present technology and the future of Electric Vehicles. Let’s start with the past first.
History of Electric Vehicles
These have been introduced over 100 years ago, these were first appearing in mid 19s. The invention of first electric car is designated to various people. In 1828,
Ányos István Jedlik who was called the father of Electric Motor, invented an early type of electric motor, and created a small model car powered by his new motor. In 1834, Vermont blacksmith Thomas Davenport developed a battery-operated Electric Motor which he used to operate the vehicle on a short Circular electrified track. Later on, Scottish inventor Robert Anderson built the first running Electric Locomotive in 1837. Galvanic batteries powered it.
Later he made a larger locomotive named Galvani and exhibited at the Royal Scottish Society of Arts in 1841. It could go around 2.5 km with a speed of 6 km per hour and then it needed new batteries.
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Rechargeable battery came into existence in 1859. ‘Gaston Plante’ from France invented first Lead-Acid battery. In 1881, French Inventor ‘Gustave Trouve’ invented first rechargeable car. He tested it successfully in Central Paris but could not patent it.
Around 1884, English Inventor Thomas Parker built the first electric car. Elwell-Parker Company which was established in 1882 did manufacturing of the electric trams.
William Morrison built the first electric car in United States in 1891. It was a six seater car which used to work on 24 battery cells that needed to recharge after covering every 80 kms.
Electric Vehicles in Early 19’s
The interest and demand got drastically increased in late 1890s and early1900’s.Electric taxis were available in London in the 19th century. Walter Bersey from London developed such taxis and gave them the name ‘hummingbird’ as these taxis used to produce a sound like hummingbird.
Electric cars were not being happily accepted because of the lack of power infrastructure, but by 1912, multiple people got electricity in their homes, and that change brought the revolution in the popularity of the electric cars. Around 30,000 electric cars were registered in the United States only, and the U.S. became the first country where electric cars were accepted the most.
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Invention of Gasoline Engine-Fall in the Electric Vehicles
Around 1920s, the electric vehicles lost its position in the automobile industry. Many countries in the world were working on the large ‘Petroleum’ resource and it led the automobile market to create affordable gas powered engines which could run over the enormous distance.
Electric cars were not as efficient as these gas powered cars as they improved their speed and they could cover the long distance compared to electric vehicles. Gasoline engines were a bit noisier in the starting but later on it improved. Many Companies stopped the production of Electric Vehicles around 1920s due to their decreased demand.
From year 2012 to 2017, the increase rate of Electric Vehicles was more than 45% annually.
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At that time, Government of all countries were very sensitive and caring towards the cleaner environment so this was the reason for increasing the demand of Electric Vehicles as they don’t generate pollution. Developed countries such as USA, UK, Germany and France are promoting the use of Electric Vehicles which has increased their demand in the automobile market.
Present of Electric Vehicles
But the sales of Electric Vehicles in 2019 increased by only 9 percent from 2018 globally, which reached to 2.2 million units. The reason for this change is due to the decrease in sales in China and USA. However, in some part of Europe, it increased around 44%.
Covid-19, lockdown in all the countries and the travel restrictions in different countries also affected the automobile industry sales drastically in year 2020. The sales of normal cars came down to 14% from 2019. However, it was an increase in the Electric Vehicles sales up to 39%. And 3.1 million Electric Vehicles were sold in 2020.
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In Norway, electric cars were sold more than the non-electric cars in 2020. The US based company Tesla produced and delivered 36% more electric vehicles than last year according to company’s last annual report.
Now “2021 is the year of the Electric car” said Andy Palmer, the previous chief operating officer of Nissan. According to China Association of Automobile manufacturers, sales of Electric Vehicles will probably increase by 40% in 2021. The aim of the United Kingdom is to end the sales of pollution emitting vehicles by 2035 and UK is planning to invest around £3 billion in electric vehicles. Electric Vehicles demand is already increasing in UK but their high price can be a hindrance in their high demand.
Revolution of Electric Vehicles
Revolution in the market of Electric Vehicles came in 2003 when a big automobile company Tesla was founded by Elon Musk. In 2004, Tesla started the manufacturing of their famous vehicle named Roadster and it was completed and delivered to customers for the use in 2008.
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This vehicle was the first electric vehicle which could deliver a high range of 200 miles with a single charge. This vehicle was a luxury car and its high range made it the best Electric Vehicle of that time. Now Tesla is delivering different Electric vehicles with High Range, More Power compared to earlier models, and Safety to its consumers at a higher rate. Tesla has also manufactured Electric Trucks which will be running on the roads by the end of 2021.
There are some other big brands also in the Electric Vehicles market such as General Motor’s Hummer, BMW, Mercedes, Porsche. Some companies like Hummer are trying to get a comeback to the Automobile market through the Electric vehicle manufacturing.
Considering the problems associated with traffic, pollution, automobile companies shifted from Electric Cars to other Personal Electric Vehicles such as electric bicycles, Electric Bikes, Electric Scooters. These Personal electric vehicles are affordable for an average person and also offer a high range with a single charge.
Future of Electric Vehicles
Electric Vehicles are the future of automotive industry and we can see that each year automobile companies are planning to add more electric vehicles to their list. Every manufacturer, be it a small company or a large company such as Byton, Lordstown and Rivian is working on the electric vehicles.
We expect the global commercial vehicle sales to increase in near future as we can see the increasing adoption of electric buses, especially in China and India. Sales of electric vehicles are likely to jump up and go around 12.2 million till 2025, according to a sales report.
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Recently US president Biden announced that US government will replace all the non-electric vehicles with electric vehicles. Although Biden didn’t quote any timelines for this, but eventually it will happen.
The announcement of US government is a signal to the automotive industry leaders all around the world to invest in the Electric vehicles as this is the future.
Government is also working towards the reduction of the cost of associated infrastructure like charging infrastructure so that it will not create any hindrance for the people to embrace the change.
On the other hand, flying cars and taxis and automated delivery drones will be coming soon on our roads. British firm Urban Air and Korean car company Hyundai have revealed their plan to create the first airport for flying cars and taxis.
These cars will be electric cars. This Airport will be called ‘Air-One’ will be the smallest airport and will be created by the end of 2021. This airport will be designed with the infrastructure which will allow electric air taxis and drones to land here and charge their batteries.
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Scotland has been a leader in producing renewable energy resources for many years. It is also on its way to achieve its goal for electric vehicles. Scotland is planning to stop selling petrol and diesel cars by 2032 and totally move to electric cars. Nova Innovation has set up charging points in the Scotland which can be used to charge the batteries of Electric Vehicles.
UK Government has also announced to ban the selling of petrol and diesel vehicles by 2030. Different Scientists, students and some campaigners have raised the concern for the environment and asked the government to take some action over it. We expect the Government to spend around 5 million Pound for the charging infrastructure, which is the basic need to suffice the increasing need for electric vehicles.
Why Electric Vehicles are the future?
Electric Vehicles are more efficient than non-electric vehicles. A petrol/diesel engine typically wastes over 75% of the energy as unwanted heat than the energy it uses. Electric vehicle motor save this energy. Currently, the battery cost is a bit high but once the battery cost will fall down, then it will not only be cheaper to run on the roads but to buy as well.
Non Electric vehicles are also causing an adverse effect on our climate, contributing to around 8% of the carbon dioxide emissions globally. Emissions from these vehicles are not only bad for our environment, this is bad for our health as well. Air pollutants from petrol- and diesel-powered vehicles cause asthma, bronchitis, cancer, and premature death. The long-term health impacts of this air pollution can last a lifetime, with the effects borne out in asthma attacks, lung damage, and heart conditions.
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The diesel trucks which are used for transportation and delivery of the goods are also responsible for the massive amount of air pollution. These trucks create a death zone which can create multiple health problems such as respiratory disease and heart problems. Electric Vehicles don’t produce any pollution and are very safe for our environment. In California, there are approximately 70 different trucks running which are electric and they don’t emit any pollution. So if you care about your environment, you should consider buying electric vehicle.
Electric Vehicles run on batteries and while batteries gets damaged after some years, and they will need replacement, but still electric vehicles are cheaper than petrol or diesel cars. Electrical motors have much fewer parts than petrol/diesel engines, which leads to less maintenance, so they’ll require less servicing and less repairing cost.
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The producing price of electrical vehicles is going to be approximate same as petrol/diesel cars, with internal combustion engines, by 2024 according to the new survey.
Everything in a Nut-shell
The history of EVs is very glorifying and we expect a bright future of electric vehicles. This field is growing at a rocked speed and in the upcoming future, EVs will come in the budget of common people. With a brilliant future, it will help us in reducing the pollution level and soon it will replace the petrol/diesel cars. With this hope i would like to conclude this post. Please share your reaction and view using comment section. Thank you and have a great day.
