Rise of the electric vehicle
A look into the EV revolution on four wheels
Here’s a fun fact to start with - the electric car was invented before the internal combustion engined car. If I’ve got your attention then you might want to read further.
You see, back in the early 1800s, inventors and their inventions were as cool as Instagram and its invented social life. Electricity made way for batteries and it was only a matter of time till electric motors were invented. The technological progress, although overshadowed by today’s standards, was so rapid at the time that adding a cart with wheels to these electric motors powered by batteries happened right after the middle of the 19th century.
A British inventor, Robert Anderson built the first contraption which was classified as
an electric carriage but another Brit, Thomas Parker Parker, is credited for the first fifirst production electric car in 1884, just about a couple of years ahead of Karl Benz and his petrolpowered Motorwagen. Across the pond, the Americans weren’t far behind. William Morrision, an American chemist from Iowa, made a six-seater electric vehicle, capable of 23kmph. This was 1890. Ten years later, New York City had a fleet of more than 60 electric taxis with electric cars accounting for a third of all vehicles on the road at that time time. Such rapid acceptance of a new technology for the time is staggering.
The rest of the vehicles back then were either powered by steam or gasoline. Steam had its issues. Long starting times for the engine and their constant requirement for water limited their range. Gasoline had its own set of complications. They had to be hand cranked to start, selecting gears was a diffificult difficult process in itself itself, they were noisy and produced nauseating fumes. Operating cars had a learning curve and required a set of expertise. Electric cars and carriages on the other hand were silent, they were far easier to operate, making people prefer them for short distances. So what really happened to the more preferred and clearly likable electric car?
As the century flipped a page, a new chapter was beginning. By 1908, America was introduced to the Ford Model T and also to the concept of affordability. USD 650 could get you a gasoline car while an electric one would set you back by USD 1,750 and you didn’t need a calculator to make the choice. 1912, the electric starter eliminated the need to hand crank a gasoline car and discovering more natural oil reserves laid the roads to the future for these vehicles. The developments on electric technology for cars took a back seat as the electric car entered a dark tunnel. It wasn’t until the early 70s when the gasoline car hit its first real roadblock. Oil shortage, dependencies on a few countries for it and of course, its rising prices.
1990s and the new transportation emissions regulations issued by the California Air Resources Board saw a movement to
wards addressing environmental concerns. In the early 2000s, leading actors of the time in sunny California became flag bearers of the movement and cars like the Toyota Prius and Fisker Karma represented two ends of the hybrid-car spectrum. One fairly affordable while the other was aspirational but both signalled of things to come and changes to happen. Hybrids however, presented their own set of limitations. High cost of production as both series and parallel hybrids made use of an internal combustion engine in conjunction with electric motors and batteries. The result was a fairly heavy car with underwhelming performance. It did save the earth but by just a little, beyond which, even its low fuel consumption and emission figures didn’t quite appeal to its prospective buyers.
A couple of decades go by and battery technology has picked up. Electric cars still hadn’t gotten their redemption but in the late 2000s, a Silicon Valley startup made global headlines. Tesla was aiming to change the misfortunes of the electric car. Claims of the Tesla Roadster, a sportscar no less, going nearly 400km on a single charge caught everyone’s attention. Mainstream manufacturers were suddenly forced to devote their attention towards EVs and Nissan came forward with the Leaf, simply ditching the hybrid powertrain and offering a purely battery operated electric vehicle. To think of it, if you had to plug-in the car to charge the batteries in a hybrid then why not charge more batteries instead and scratch the engine in the picture entirely? This made perfect sense, the world seemed to have taken notice and thought the same. There was however, an issue that needed to be addressed. An issue that was faced by consumers back in the 1880s too. Charging.
Back when the electric car was invented and first used, batteries would need to be replaced frequently. By 1910, charging was made possible as more people could access electricity but in the modern world where most have access to it, charging was needed to cover distances. And this gave birth to the electric car’s biggest nemesis - range anxiety. An infrastructure issue, the solution to which has come slow but steadily as EV charging stations start cropping up even in developing countries.
Think about it. The sheer joy of driving a car can be instantaneously taken away when the reserve fuel light comes on with that dreaded chime. That ding has now become so ingrained in our sensory system that our eyes subconsciously keep a lookout
for the next fuel station. Chances are that even in remote areas, you’ll probably find one. Could you find a fast charger for your phone at the same time? Sure, as long as you find a charging socket but one for your electric car? Now that’s an uphill task that we haven’t crested yet. At least not entirely. A household charging socket for even modern day EVs isn’t much help with a standard charger that’ll, at the very least, take in excess of four hours to get you a double digit range and if that isn’t enough to get you to your destination then more time may not be something you might have in hand.
The solution was to strategically solve range issues addressing it from the very environment that these new breed of EVs would operate in - the urban jungle. Metropolitan city dwellers were quick to adopt electric vehicles. Some in an attempt to do their bit for the environment, others for the pure convenience of operating an EV. No cold starting to worry about, no fear of grinding gears, no overheating in hotter climates and lesser moving parts meant lesser chances of a breakdown. The very same aspects that people even a century and a half ago were able to reason in favour of the electric car.
Recent studies show that a 250km range is more than sufficient for a week’s commuting in the city. This means that a consumer can choose to charge their EV at their homes or in their offices while they can better utilise the long hours taken to top up drained batteries. This also means charging just once a week with fast chargers now guarantee 10 to 80 per cent charge in under 45 minutes making intercity travel a fair possibility with a little planning in advance. With ever improving battery technology, charging times will keep coming down and charging infrastructure will only get better. Wall chargers fitted by the manufacturer make charging all the more convenient but overall convenience was bettered by the shape of the modern-day electric vehicle.
Hatchbacks gained popularity for a number of reasons. Practicality with a rear hatch, ability to haul urban luggage and people, the short wheelbase made for nimble handling and smaller dimensions needed lesser parking real estate, there was absolutely everything to love about a hatchback than loathe. Crossovers and hatchbacks for EV manufacturers meant packaging the batteries on the floor of the chassis, without compromising cabin space. The electric motor sat low in the bonnet, closer to the centre thus improving the centre of gravity and handling of the already fun to drive hatchback. A successful formula birthed by the internal combustion engine, it was only natural for EVs to follow in the same footsteps. The American Chevrolet Bolt and Tesla Model X, the South Korean Kia Soul EV, the European Volkswagen ID.3 are prime examples of the crossover hatchback EV being successful in various parts of the globe in the last decade.
The current decade though, saw the most substantial involvement in the wider adoption of the electric car. As more manufacturers joined the party, the electric
car saw more premium badges on its grille. BMW, Audi, Mercedes, Porsche and many more are now focusing on dedicated platforms thanks to scalable architectures. The hatchback and compact SUV shapes remain popular but one can even opt for the Mercedes EQS - the all-electric equivalent to the S-Class or the more recently revealed BMW i4 sedan. Come 2021 and innovations like the Hyundai Ioniq 5 seem worth mentioning. 305bhp, 605Nm, 0-100 in 5.2 seconds, all-wheel drive, 481km of claimed range, 10-80 per cent charge in 18 minutes through a 220kW ultra-fast charger - the very definition of a hot hatch has been altered and the sheer pace of its development as an electric car far surpasses that of a 2021 petrol alternative. But what if you didn’t want to settle for a modern hatchback or a sedan? What if your idea of aesthetics still put an older design at the top of the list?
Chop shops have always made the process of reimagining an older automotive design in the new age, possible and accessible. These usually are small outfits and as necessitated by developing technology as well as business trends, they too have identified an open opportunity waiting to be capitalised upon. Take for example Everrati, a UK-based firm reimagining classics with an electric powertrain to future-proof t hem and have their legacy live on for years to come. From the iconic Mercedes-Benz SL W113 of the 60s to their flagship release, the 90s Porsche 911 964, both reimagined in electric guises boasting admirable power and range numbers that helps enthusiasts retain a part of automotive history and drive them without worry, well into the future. Mass manufacturers seem to have picked up on this trend too as more retro-themed concepts come to fore. These would in all probability, gauge public interest and move into production at a later time. The Hyundai Pony put the South Korean company on the global map and the reimagined electric concept is a superb recreation. Opel brings back the Manta with
an electric platform underneath and a properly retro cabin to induce as much nostalgia as you’d wish to get from your grandfather’s old faithful.
A marked shift in the automotive industry for electric cars is happening right now as you’re reading these lines and the evidence of it is already out on the showroom floors in various parts of the globe. Oil-burning, soot-spewing, allAmerican trucks can now be bought in all-electric versions. Icons of the Wild West have realised and embraced the harsh realities of diminishing fossilfuel reserves and increasing climate change to take this bold step and defy their own longstanding legacies. Ford’s F-150 truck is one such example and so is the Chevrolet Silverado. The latter is still a couple of years away while the former is now also available as the F-150 Lightning. Specifications aside, the truck is even capable of powering your house in the event of an outage. The Hummer or Humvee if you recall, could alone be held responsible for inducing a fair percentage of global warming and being ridiculously inefficient outside of a war zone. In its latest all-electric iteration though, it’ll look just as good as a World Environment Day mascot in a field of daffodils as much as it belonged in the middle-eastern landscape.
Electric cars are now at a point where they’re changing the performance landscape of hypercars as well as motorsport. Still in its nascent stages, these new breeds of hypercars have straight away pushed the envelope of engineering to a degree where internal combustion engines have started running out of steam, figuratively speaking. Take for instance the Hennessy Venom F5 and the Bugatti Chiron, sitting at the top steps of the top-speed supremacy and managing so without electric assist. It has taken a good part of a century and a half for combustion engines to achieve these feats. Yet there are all-electric hypercars like the Lotus Evija and the Rimac Nevera which have been developed within the past few years and easily make the Venom’s and Chiron’s power figures seem ordinary. The Evija tips the horsepower scales at a mega 2,001bhp while the Nevera will clock 97kmph from a standstill in 1.8 seconds! You probably took more time to read that sentence. Sure t op-speed achievements for these electric hypercars aren’t anywhere close to the near 500kmph capabilities of the Venom and Chiron but not even their owners have easily accessible tracks to possibly ever achieve their topspeeds. Neither is the current tyre technology capable of withstanding the forces at those speeds.
The yet to be launched new Tesla Roadster claims phenomenal figures like a 0-97kmph time of 1.9, a 400kmph plus top-speed and a whopping 997km range. Aerodynamics can be better utilised in an electric car as their need for cooling the battery and electrical systems is far lesser than a combustion
engine while air density makes negligible difference in their performance. Partly why the VW ID. R obliterated lap records at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, Nurburgring and the Goodwood Festival of Speed, each of them with times never seen before. Further development comes from racing series like Formula E and off-road rallies like the Xtreme E.
Electric cars are here to stay. The very foreseeable future will see the departure of the internal combustion engine and that’ll be as early as 2030 when major mass manufacturers like Honda have announced to go all-electric. Their simplicity and outright power and performance capabilities will enthrall you the moment you take your first test drive and there’s a fair chance that you may not ever turn back and look at the internal combustion engine.