Future
Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer, head of the Centre of Automotive Research at the Gelsenkirchen University of Applied Sciences in Germany, said that "by 2025, all passenger cars sold in Europe will be electric or hybrid" electric.
Several startup companies like Tesla Motors, Commuter Cars, and Miles Electric Vehicles will have powerful battery-electric vehicles available to the public in 2008. Battery and energy storage technology is advancing rapidly. The average distance driven by 80% of citizens per day in a car in the US is about 50 miles (US dept of transport, 1991), which fits easily within the current range of the electric car. This range can be improved by technologies such as Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles which are capable of using traditional fuels for unlimited range, rapid charging stations for BEVs, improved energy density batteries, flow batteries, or battery swapping.
In 2006 GM began the development of a plug-in hybrid that will use a lithium-ion battery. The vehicle, initially known as the iCar, is now called the Chevrolet Volt. The basic design was first exhibited January 2007 at the North American International Auto Show. GM is planning to have this EV ready for sale to the public in the latter half of 2010. The car is to have a 40-mile (64 km) range. If the battery capacity falls below 30 percent a small internal combustion engine will kick in to charge the battery on the go. This in effect increases the range of the vehicle, allowing it to be driven until it can be fully charged by plugging it into a standard household AC electrical source. In December 2010 Nissan introduced the Nissan Leaf in Japan and the U.S. The Nissan Leaf is a five-door mid-size hatchback electric car. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency determined the range to be 117 kilometres (73 mi), with an energy consumption of 765 kJ/km (34 kWh per 100 miles).
Among other awards and recognition, the Nissan Leaf won the 2010 Green Car Vision Award award, the 2011 European Car of the Year award, the 2011 World Car of the Year, and ranks as the most efficient EPA certified vehicle for all fuels ever. The Ford C-MAX Energi was launched that year in response to the Leaf and Volt, to be available on the market within a year and estimated to have a 500-mile range.
On October 29, 2007, Shai Agassi launched Project Better Place, a company focused on building massive scale Electric Recharge Grids as infrastructure supporting the deployment of electric vehicles (including plug-in hybrids) in countries around the world. On January 21, 2008, PBP and the Nissan–Renault group signed a MOU - PBP will provide the battery recharging and swapping infrastructure and Renault-Nissan will mass-produce the vehicles.
Read more about this topic: Electric Vehicle
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