L DECEMBER 8
While many auto executives predict electric vehicles will represent a significant share of vehicle sales in ten years, some oil companies expect electricity to still play only a bit part in transport 20 years from now. Here are some of the reasons why their outlooks vary:
AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES The Oil View: BP, Exxon’s oil market outlooks published this year do not mention driverless vehicles.
The International Energy Agency said it had not yet studied the impact of autonomous driving on oil demand.
What the carmakers say: Driverless vehicles will become a significant part of sales towards the end of the next decade.
They will account for an even larger share of miles driven, since the technology is expected to lead to a reduction in car ownership and increase in the use of taxi or ride sharing services, with vehicles often operated as part of fleets owned by carmakers or other companies.
Carmakers say electric vehicles are more suitable platforms for such autonomous vehicles than gasoline powered cars.
EVs are also seen as attractive for fleet owners since high utilisation rates make their lower operating costs attractive and because the fewer moving parts in EVs, compared to combustion engines, means less maintenance is required.
BATTERY TECHNOLOGY The Oil View: “There remains a significant degree of uncertainty surrounding how BEVs will overcome limitations related to price, range and ease of charging,” Opec’s 2040 outlook, published in November said. BP said in February that it was unlikely batteries could compete with oil in cost terms before 2035.
“Penetration of electric vehicles and electricity more generally is likely to be pretty limited over the next 20 years.
That’s based on the analysis contained in the Technology Outlook published last year, that it takes time until battery technology is able to compete” said Spencer Dale, BP Chief Economist.
What the carmakers say: Battery charging times are falling to less than an hour, and General Motors’ new 2017 Chevy Bolt is the first of several EVs planned for the coming few years with a range of 200 miles.
Battery costs are dropping so that, Ford says these will be below the $100 per kWhour level at which electric vehicles would become cost competitive with internal combustion engines powered vehicles, by 2025.
CHINA The Oil View: Increasing car ownership in emerging markets like China will drive growth in COMBUSTION ENGINE EFFICIENCY The Oil View: The most cost effective way to reduce emissions and increase the energy efficiency of vehicles is through continued improvement of combustion engines and adoption of hybrids. “Improving fuel economy in gasoline-fuelled cars is one of the most cost-effective ways to reduce GHG emissions, especially when compared to electric cars,” Exxon’s 2040 outlook, published earlier this year said.
What the carmakers say: It is becoming harder and more expensive to squeeze efficiency gains from combustion engine technology.
“It is also important strategically to ramp up the electric vehicles to meet the CO2 2020 targets.
Without electrified cars, you can’t meet 2020 targets in Europe, for example, and other parts of the world,” BMW chairman Harald Krueger said in August.
COMMERCIAL VEHICLES The Oil View: Electricity is likely to be unsuitable for powering light trucks and longdistance road haulage in coming decades. “The distances travelled and loads transported greatly increase the demands made on electric batteries, making an early electrification of these markets less likely,” BP Group chief economist Spencer Dale said in early December.
What the carmakers say: Some auto companies including Daimler, Nissan and Volvo say electrification is picking up in commercial vehicles.
Ford said rules that often exempt electrified commercial vehicles from fees for accessing city centres are driving interest in electrification among fleet owners. “It is a sector that is very conducive to electrification,” Hau Thai-Tang, Ford Motor Company, Group VP, Purchasing said in September.