As electric cars continue to increase, it is not out of place to wonder what the future has in store for electric vehicles and their impact on humanity. ICE vehicles have had their day, and this article peers into the future of electric cars.
More legacy auto companies will make electric vehicles
Traditional automakers are joining EV startups in making electric vehicles, abandoning their ICE heritage. The strongest among them are starting to vie for the second position behind Tesla. Examples include German Volkswagen, whose CEO is an advocate of the overhaul in the company culture that must take place for Volkswagen to be competitive in the electric vehicle segment. It is joined by GM, Ford, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Peugeot, etc.
While these legacy companies have better access to fund, they will face the challenge of retooling existing production facilities for making electric vehicles. They will also have to retrain their workers.
More governments will shift to electric
More governments are recognizing the connection between ICE vehicles and climate change. This is why some of them are using policies and even outright bans to move their population away from carbon-emitting ICEs to environmentally-friendly electric vehicles. The UK is an example, as it has banned the sales of new ICE light-weight vehicles from 2030.
Moves like this will make EVs more popular, especially when combined with incentives.
Old batteries have to be dealt with
Electric vehicles are still in their infancy, with many earlier models still on the road. However, unserviceable batteries will have to be taken care of as the year goes by since they do not last forever. This means millions of old batteries are waiting in the future of electric vehicles.
Some companies are exploring recycling the materials to make new batteries, while others want to repurpose them in energy storage systems.
The electric vehicle industry will have to work out a way to dispose of these batteries without them constituting dangerous waste to the environment.
Vehicle ownership culture will change
Electric vehicles will change the way we have owned cars. For example, while ICE vehicles have longer driving ranges, EV owners have to stop more often to recharge the battery on long trips because of their shorter driving ranges. Even when both vehicles stop for a refuel, the ICE car owner will get back on the road faster than the EV owner, as the latter could take up to an hour to ‘fill’ up the battery. Some EV owners choose to engage in other activities while waiting for their vehicles to charge.
Similarly, many EV owners charge at home by installing a charging station instead of driving over to a filling station or transporting fuel in containers.
