German law allows self-driving cars
ELECTRIC vehicle (EV) technology is growing at such a rate that battery suppliers are finding it difficult to meet the demand of carmakers. Some of these technologies are essential and some are superficial but in the long run, the price difference between electric and conventional cars will matter the most to consumers.
Most people would drive EVs if they can perceive benefits over and above what their current cars offer. The bottom line of saving money can make or break a deal on selling an electric car.
Companies follow different routes to designing their future EVs starting with the compact segment, which includes the best-seller Nissan Leaf, the retro e-Golf and the niche BMW i3. Electric powertrain is moving to other segments including sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and even sports cars.
The battery range is getting longer, up to 500 kilometers, and refueling is no longer a big hurdle as many drivers charge their vehicles after a round trip. The big issue, though, is the price of these vehicles.
Currently, all the marketing is about design and range. But the good news came recently from Bloomberg and New Energy Finance, according to which, falling battery costs mean that the price of an EV would come down by around 2025. Batteries account for half of the cost of EVs and their prices between 2017 and 2030 are likely to drop by 77 percent.
Many companies, including Renault, predict that prices of EVs and conventional cars will be same in the 2020s. Eventually, the price of EVs will witness a slump.
A combination of new technologies, stricter emission regulations in addition to rising threshold of sales would finally bring EVs to the realm of mainstream.
Governments can fast forward this process by building necessary infrastructure, by offering incentives for EVs and imposing penalties for owning old polluting cars. * Adel Murad is a senior motoring and business journalist based in London.
GERMANY has passed a law to allow its automotive industry to test self-driving cars. The upper house of its Parliament recently approved a legislation setting out the conditions under which these cars could take to German roads.
Under the law, first mooted by Chancellor Angela Merkel last year, a driver must be sitting behind the wheel at all times ready to take back control if prompted to do so by the autonomous vehicle.
The new legislation allows them to road-test vehicles in which drivers will be allowed to take their hands off the wheel and their eyes off the road to browse the web or check emails while the vehicle handles steering or stopping autonomously.
The legislation requires that a black box record the journey underway, logging whether the human driver or the car’s selfpiloting system was in charge at all times during driving. This will be crucial for deciding on blame for accidents.