Both Smart and Volkswagen announced last week that they will eventually equip all their models with an electric motor. These two carmakers are certainly not the first to announce a switch to electric. Car manufacturers are betting widely on electric vehicles, responding to the announced ban by several countries on the sale of cars with petrol or diesel engines.
The need to offer electric variants of models is increasing for car manufacturers. Several countries have now announced plans to ban the sale of cars with petrol or diesel engines. For instance, these engines will be banned in Norway from 2025, and both France and Britain will ban the sale of such vehicles from 2040. China has also announced that it will introduce a ban on the sale of petrol and diesel cars in the near future, although no year has been announced for this. In India, a leading think-tank of the Indian government has recommended banning fossil-fuel cars from 2032.
Netherlands
A ban on the sale of petrol and diesel cars has also been discussed in the Netherlands for some time. In March 2016, for instance, the Lower House passed a motion by the PvdA calling on Economic Affairs Minister Kamp to encourage the sale of electric vehicles and to aim for the Netherlands to sell exclusively emission-free vehicles within 10 years. Minister Kamp eventually ignored this motion.
In addition, De Volkskrant and NOS reported in April 2016 that the environmental committees of both VVD, CDA, D66, GroenLinks, PvdA and ChristenUnie have reached an agreement on environmental targets for the coming years. This would include an agreement on a sales ban on fossil-fuelled cars.
Car manufacturers announce electric models
Not surprisingly, a large number of carmakers have now announced that they will also supply many or even all of their car models with an electric motor in the coming years. A small sample of the plans that several car manufacturers have now announced.
Volkswagen
Volkswagen has announced its intention to market all its models as electric cars from 2030 as well. The company is allocating 20 billion euros to make this possible.
Smart
Smart says goodbye to combustion engine by 2020 In both Europe and the US, the carmaker will launch only electric variants of the Smart from this year.
Volvo
Every model from Volvo will feature an electric motor from 2019. In some cases, these are fully electric cars, while in others they are hybrid vehicles.
Fiat & Maserati
Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, announced in July 2017 that half of all of Fiat's models should appear on the market as electric vehicles by 2019. Maserati, also part of FCA, is to supply all its models with an electric motor from the same year. Marchionne does warn about the relatively high production costs of electric vehicles, which the CEO says will cause a price increase of new cars. Marchionne expects this to put pressure on demand for cars.
Aston Martin
Aston Martin has announced two electric vehicles: the Rapid-E based on the Aston Martin Rapide and an SUV: the DBX. Both vehicles are due to hit the market in 2019. In addition, Aston Martin aims to be able to supply its other models with a hybrid engine from 2025.
BMW
BMW plans to launch 25 car models with an electric motor by the year 2025. 12 of these models will be fully electric. Details about the carmaker's plans are not yet known.
Jaguar & Land Rover
Jaguar Land Rover announced in September that all models of both Jaguar and Land Rover will be partially or fully electric powered from 2020. Jaguar has its first electric vehicle planned for 2018: the electric i-Pace.
Subaru
Subaru has revealed that it is also betting on electric vehicles. The company plans to retrofit its existing car models with an electric motor. Fully electric models from Subaru should be available from 2021, while the company plans to deliver its first hybrid model in 2018.
Peugeot, DS & Citroën
PSA, the parent company of Citroën, DS and Peugeot, announced back in May 2016 that it would launch 12 models with an electric or hybrid powertrain between 2019 and 2021. These include four all-electric models and seven plug-in hybrids that will go on sale across the Citroën, DS and Peugeot brands.
Renault, Nissan & Mitsubishi
Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi aim to launch at least 12 all-electric models by 2022. This was announced in September by Carlos Ghosn, CEO of the Renault-Nissan alliance that acquired Mitsubishi in October 2016. The alliance aims for around 30% of all its vehicles sold to be electric cars by 2022.
Switching won't be long in coming
Despite the fact that a relatively small number of countries have announced a permanent ban on the sale of petrol and diesel vehicles, carmakers are responding to this trend en masse. A large number of car manufacturers are betting on electric vehicles, which will generally become available between 2019 and 2025. Although it remains to be seen when the Netherlands will ban the sale of petrol and diesel cars, we can expect that a massive switch to electric driving will not be long in coming.
Author: Wouter Hoeffnagel
Source: Reuters
Source: De Volkskrant
Source: NOS
