Is the electric car evolving into a more mainstream vehicle that appeals to the current consumer demand?
TFL’s Roman Mica sat down with Anton Wahlman to discuss the next generation of electric car and what’s coming in 2018.
Although the electric car market is flooded with smaller, hatchback size vehicles, a change is definitely on the horizon. Three automakers recently announced a taller, more crossover version of the electric car.
In 2015, Audi announced its new e-tron electric car. This year, Mercedes-Benz announced its new EQ and Jaguar its new I-Pace. All vehicles will likely be available starting in 2018.
Roman noticed that the three vehicles have a similar look to them, which Anton attributed to consumer demand. Consumers are still interested in driving a crossover, which the Audi, Mercedes and Jaguar are all designed to look like.
The range on all three will likely be higher than what’s currently on the market. All three have batteries in the 90-kilowatt hour range.
The range on the new vehicles also is expected to be better. For the I-Pace, estimates in Europe have it at 500 kilometers while in the U.S. it’s at 220 miles on a single charge.
Although the conversion between the two doesn’t add up, Anton said it’s because the testing is different in the European and U.S. markets. For the European test, the cars are typically driven at the same rate of speed on a flat surface. But in the U.S., the vehicles are subjected to acceleration, deceleration and elevation changes.
Anton figured that the I-Pace would like come in with an average of 265 miles on one charge.
As for charging times, vehicles like the I-Pace by today’s standards will be fully charged within 90 minutes. But Anton said that’s based on the current 50-kilowatt charging station. But by 2018, the infrastructure could have 150-kilowatt charging stations, which would shorten the charge time dramatically.
What else is in store for the next generation electric cars? What can consumers expect? And who will come ahead in the coming EV wars? Find out by watching the complete TFL video above.
