The Future of Electric Cars

After discovering that the first electric car was invented in 1832, we thought it would be interesting to find out more about the current electric market and what the future holds.

Over the past year or so, the electric car market has accelerated very fast, getting a jump on cutting down emissions.

So, what’s happening currently in the electric car market and what are the goals for the future?

2020 and 2021 have seen the most significant increase in hybrid and all-electric vehicles over the past couple of decades. The European Union came together in July 2021 and introduced the ‘Fit for 55’ package, focusing on fairness, solidarity, ambition, and efficiency. The most recent meeting the EU had regarding the package was in February, where they debated the future of the industrial mobility ecosystem. The main goal was to reduce emissions by 55% and ban all petrol and diesel vehicles by 2030. 

The initial launch of the EV market was vital for its growth, so the government introduced grants in 2011 to help individuals buy into electric cars. The four grants that were introduced were the Plug-in grant, Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme, Workplace Charging Scheme, and the On-street Residential ChargePoint Scheme. These helped both customers and companies to invest in electric cars and charging points. There is hesitation around electric cars being too expensive to purchase however, the more batteries and EVs being produced, the more the whole process will be cheaper. 

Electric Car Technology and the Future of EV Infrastructure

The future of electric vehicles is highly dependent on the development of the charging infrastructure. Allowing access to rapid charging stations for everyone who owns an EV and for future owners is a necessity for the progress towards the emission reduction goals. 

Across the UK there has been an increase in new houses being built. In 2021 an announcement was made that houses built mid-to-end of 2022 onwards would be fitted with home chargers. If you wanted to invest in an electric car after purchasing a new build property, the home charger already installed would be a cost you won’t need to worry about. 

All Electric Hyper Cars

Electric supercars are looking to be our future. If the development of the electrical infrastructure and progress of better energy storing batteries continues to grow at the current speed, then these could become the norm for us. 

Ariel P40

The Ariel P40. 1180 bhp. 1327lb ft of torque. 0-100mph in 3.8 seconds. An incredible lightweight piece of machinery built around bonded aluminium vehicle structure with carbon bodywork, the P40 has four electric motors connected to each wheel, producing 295bhp each. From the simulations that Ariel Motors have made, the car is so powerful that the wheels would be spinning at 100mph; therefore, they would need to use fans to suck the car to the road in order to produce the downforce strong enough to keep the vehicle moving. 

The hypercar will be fitted with a turbine mounted above the rear motors, which will be able to keep up with power demands by charging up the battery beyond the 120-mile range. The P40 can run flat out for 15 minutes on the 42kWh battery; however, it can then be fully charged within 45 minutes. 

Aspark Owl

A Japanese manufactured all-electric hypercar, the Aspark Owl using the 2012bhp that the four electric motors supply, can reach 0-60mph in 1.96 seconds. With its top speed of 248mph and a 279-mile range, this model is an extraordinary example of automotive beauty, state-of-the-art technology, design, and functionality. Also, the body, chassis and significant portion of the components are made up of top-level carbon fibre. 

The Aspark Owl features a 64kW battery powering the motors that turn at 15000 rpm, making it three times more potent than a Formula E car and with twice the power of a Formula 1 car. 

This car will be very limited, only 50 will exist worldwide. What is more, each car will be fully customisable making each one different from one another. 

The price tag might make your eyes water, it starts at a hefty 2.4million pounds and to secure the Owl you would need to pay a £42,000 deposit upfront. 

Rimac Nevera

This hypercar is named after a Nevera storm, a sudden and unexpected summer storm. It’s also charged by lightning and is extremely powerful. The Nevera is fuelled by electricity and has a bhp of 1914. It can go from 0 to 60mph in 1.85 seconds with a top speed of 258mph with its 120kWh battery being able to provide a range of 341 miles. 

The Nevera is made up of a carbon fibre vehicle structure, a bonded carbon roof, an integrated structural battery pack and a rear carbon subframe. 

There are four motors on each wheel, which are independently driven and channel torque proportionally to give the car an immense amount of control and agility. Through the all-wheel torque vectoring system, the Nevera calculates the amount deployed to each wheel over 100 times a second to achieve the relevant driving dynamic. 

Nio EP9

The Nio EP9 is one of the fastest electric cars worldwide. It completed the Nürburgring with a lap time of 6:45:90. Impressive!

Its 90kW lithium-ion battery gives the EP9 a range of 265 miles and it takes 45 minutes to fully charge. Its 777-volt powertrain supplies electricity to the electric motors located at each wheel. Each motor produces 335.25bhp adding up to a whopping 1341bhp. 

The rear wing on the Nio EP9 is designed to offer three modes. First is the park where the rear wing is in the resting position, the second mode is low drag, which means the car requires minimal fuel to push through the air. and lastly, the third and final mode is high downforce, this allows the EP9 to stick to the road firmly. High downforce is needed when going through corners at high speed. The rear wing will push the air to move over and around the car forcing the car lower to the ground. The downforce it produces in newtons is 24,019, that’s two times more than a Formula 1 car. 

Lotus Evija 

Lotus, a British automotive manufacturer, has designed a limited production electric hypercar. It was officially unveiled in 2019 and is Lotus’ first electric vehicle. The car is so unique that it has codenames, ‘Type 130’ and ‘Omega’ and only 130 will be made. 

With a 70kW battery, it can provide a range of 215 miles. Four electric motors power each wheel producing 493bhp each, totalling up to 1974bhp. This immense amount of power can make it go 0 to 60mph in under 3 seconds and it can reach over 200mph.

Tags: *Electric_Cars *Electric_Supercars *Supercars *EV *Hypercar