Electric cars are gaining popularity in Europe. Mainstream automakers are making them in response to a shift away from petrol and diesel. Yet, regional governments have pledged to ban new car sales of combustion engines. They will do this in the next two decades. The European Union is under pressure to cut carbon emissions. Yet, consumers still need to choose battery-driven cars in the required numbers. We need to transition them from a niche to a mainstream product.
Current Market Share and Consumer Preferences
Data released this month is from Europe’s ACEA industry association. It shows that electric vehicle sales rose 10.5% last year. The rise was driven by a 117% jump in BEVs. But, petrol and diesel models still had 75.5% of European sales.
Investments by Major Automakers
Volkswagen Group is the world’s second-biggest automaker by volume after Toyota. It is investing 73 million euros up to 2025 to prepare its German plants, which are in Hanover, Emden, and Zwickau. The plants are being prepared for the production of BEVs. Yet, the automaker sold 231,600 full-electric cars last year, out of 9.3 million vehicles sold globally.
Case Study: Opel’s e-Corsa Pricing
One of the biggest problems BEVs face is their price. For example, Opel’s cheapest full-electric car is the e-Corsa. It currently costs 29,900 euros in Germany. In contrast, its petrol-driven sibling starts at 14,415 euros, less than half the price.
Challenges in BEV Production
Part of the high pricing is a need for uniformity in production. Car makers are starting to make electric platforms. They can be scaled for different-sized vehicle segments. Electric drivetrains, yet, are still built in a bespoke fashion for different BEVs.
Battery and Raw Material Costs
Other hurdles also affect the cost of BEVs. These include batteries and high raw material costs.
Technological Innovations and Solutions
One European Union research project addressing all these issues is Drivemode. It aims to make a compact modular drivetrain for BEVs. The drivetrain will use the vehicle’s stored energy more. It will do this through an 800-volt electric system. Currently, most automakers are using 400-volt systems.
“With Drivemode, we have a very integrated unit. That way, it makes everything better. It helps with assembly, sourcing, storing, and putting it in the vehicle. “So, it saves cost,” says Deepak Singh. He is an engineer at National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS), one of the project’s partners.
Singh thinks automakers are still taking a complicated approach. They use different electrical setups for each vehicle type. These types include passenger cars and light vans.
Drive Mode’s Approach to Modular Drivetrains
“It makes it very difficult to do a quick product placement in the market,” Singh says. The project’s modular system combines the electronics, a gearbox, and the motor. It does so in a unit that can be scaled up to fit the power needs of a given vehicle. That means one module could drive a small city car. But a sports car might need four modules. This approach would have a noticeable effect. It would reduce the cost of building mass-market BEVs.
Drivemode’s 800-volt electrical system also helps address other cost hurdles. In general, motor size is defined by torque capability. Motors run at 20,000 rpm, but they need less torque to be efficient, so they can be smaller and lighter.
Conclusion
BEVs must transition from a niche to mainstream adoption in Europe. This change hinges on overcoming key challenges. The main one is the high costs of production and raw materials. Major automakers like Volkswagen have tried. The rules help, too. But, BEVs still face price barriers. These barriers deter broad adoption. Yet, technology is advancing. Projects like Drivemode are leading the way. They make production cheaper. They will do this by developing modular powertrains. They will also use higher-voltage systems. These innovations promise to cut costs and boost the efficiency of BEVs. As this tech matures and grows, it can make electric cars more appealing. It can also make them more accessible to consumers. This would speed their shift from a niche to a dominant force in the car market.
