Electric cars are the buzz at Frankfurt auto show
Carmakers at the Frankfurt auto show are unveiling the low-emissions vehicles and technology strategies they hope will let them profit from the sweeping changes expected to hit the auto industry in the next few years.
Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz on Tuesday unveiled a compact electric vehicle under its EQ sub-brand that showcases its efforts to make connected, electric, shared and autonomous vehicles. The EQA has two electric motors that can give it different driving characteristics depending on which mode the driver chooses.
The Stuttgart-based automaker also had the GLC F-Cell, a “preproduction” model of a batteryfuel cell hybrid SUV that can run on hydrogen and emits only water vapour.
BMW AG is showing off the fourdoor i Vision Dynamics electric concept vehicle to join its i3 and i8 electric models. The company says the i Vision Dynamics can hit 200 kph and accelerate to 100 kph in a quick 4.0 seconds.
Carmakers are spending heavily to develop and improve electric cars to meet increasingly tough government regulations limiting air pollution. That is even though current electric models do not enjoy high sales because of limited range, higher price, and a lack of fast-charging stations. Analysts think that as batteries get better and costs come down, electric sales may take off. According to research and analytics firm IHS Markit, battery-only cars were 0.57 per cent of global production in 2016 and will increase to 0.86 per cent in 2017.
Britain and France have proposed eliminating internal-combustion cars by 2040.
China’s industry ministry is developing a timetable to end production and sale of traditional fuel cars and will promote development of electric technology, state media reported Sunday.
Volkswagen AG showed off a revised version of its electric ID Crozz crossover SUV concept vehicle as it announced a long-term electrification campaign, saying its brands would introduce 80 new electric vehicles by 2025. The company plans to invest 20 billion euros (US$24 billion) in upgrading plants, creating two new electric car platforms and training workers.
The company said that depending on market developments it could sell three million batteryonly vehicles a year in 2025.
“Now the big question that everyone is asking is, ‘When will we see (electric cars) in mass volume?”’ Volkswagen CEO Matthias Mueller said Monday ahead of the show. “But it is not just a matter of what is being offered from manufacturers but also the electric charging infrastructure. That’s why it is important to have a fact-based conversation about the urgent problems with electric mobility and how they can be solved. This needs to be discussed jointly, with electricity companies, with states, with local authorities.”
The arrival of battery-powered cars is just one anticipated change. Automakers are also searching for ways to adapt to a future in which people find ways of getting from one place to another without necessarily owning a car, such as car-sharing or ride-hailing through smartphone apps. They are also working on developing autonomous vehicles that could drive themselves — under limited circumstances such as corporate campuses or limited access freeways at first, and possibly more widely later.
Small SUVs are also a theme as manufacturers crowd into a segment that has proven a winner. New offerings of SUV or SUVlike body stylings on compact car platforms include: Volkswagen’s T-Roc, the SEAT Arona, Jaguars E-Pace, Kia Stonic, Citroen C3 Aircross and the Skoda Karoq.