Electric vehicles: technology, markets and forecasts
Kumar also sees the range issue as one of the “main barriers for adoption today”, noting that the Nissan Leaf has a range of 100 miles compared with the 300–350 miles for a gasoline engine. “150–200 miles is a safe target for getting over the range anxiety and this could be possible again in the next four to five years. I’m not sure because every manufacturer would have his own technological challenges… I think it will take about 3–4 years, generation 2 or generation 3 of these vehicles to come out to have a range of 200 miles or more.” Kumar notes that hybrids can actually have better range than standard vehicles, with the Chevy Volt having an effective range of 600 miles.
On the subject of price, Koskas says: “We made a bet right from the beginning that we would be able to propose cars at the same price as a conventional car and we basically succeeded in doing so… Obviously at least for the first few