Progress for the electric car market in 2018

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With the British government recently announcing their plans to ban sales of diesel and petrol vehicles by 2040, consumers are looking increasingly at electric alternatives. Data shows clear progress for the electric vehicle market, with 132,000 new registrations in 2017 and record figures predicted for 2018. The success of the industry could be down to new developments in the automotive industry, making electric cars more viable for the average consumer – for example, many of the initial set-backs experienced by electric vehicle owners have now been developed further, making them less of an issue for owners in 2018. Motorparks Grange, retailers of prestige vehicles and used cars, have analysed the trends and made some predictions for the future of the electric vehicle market.

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Photo source: cheatsheet.com

The changing automotive industry

Car manufactures have begun making preparations to deal with the changing automotive market. Jaguar and Land Rover are late comers to the electric vehicle market, only recently introducing their first all-electric vehicle, the Jaguar I-Pace concept. But that hasn’t stopped them from pulling out all the stops to catch up, by announcing that they plan to be all electric by 2020 – a big step into the EV industry for new comers. This news followed Volvo’s pledge to do the same but by 2019. The prestige brand promises that all new models produced and registered from 2020 will be fully electric or hybrid – and that their customers will have more choice moving forward.

Jaguar Land Rover have also announced their plans to build a new electric vehicle manufacturing factory in the UK. The new car plant would be similar to the Nissan factory in Sunderland and would increase the production of new electric vehicles. Whilst it is not confirmed, the plan is a big step towards the brand committing to their EV plan.

Many other manufacturers have followed suit; Nissan have already sold within the thousands of electric models. They are the brains behind the second most popular electric model in retail, and the bestselling all electric model in the UK, the Nissan Leaf – with over 30,500 units sold in the UK, and over 300,000 units worldwide. And with the launch of its newest model, could the Leaf take the top spot. The new model has a battery mileage range that is double the range of its previous models. An issue that was apparent for all manufacturers, not just Nissan.

Nissan engineers at the company already knew that in order to improve the new model, they had to focus on improving their current range. The 2011 Nissan Leaf had a range of just 75 miles, but progress in the industry has since taken huge leaps towards its new 235 mile range – progress that could be intrinsic to the future success of the model, and for the industry. Additionally, they also fitted the first one pedal driving system – an optional system that allows you to transform the accelerator into an e-pedal to function as a start, stop, accelerate and brake pedal.

The automotive industry has already been changed by electric vehicles.  Drivers have realised the harmful effects of their petrol and diesel automobiles, and the government’s plans are underway. To survive the transition, now is the time to come up with an electric vehicle plan. For automotive manufacturers, they need to get their head in the EV game to survive the market.

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