Progress for electric vehicle technology in 2019 and beyond

As many are already aware, the UK government announced plans last year to prohibit the sale of all petrol and diesel vehicles by the year 2040. This has driven consumers to look increasingly towards electric vehicles for future purchases. The EV market is flourishing according to recent data, with over 130,000 new electric vehicle registrations by the end of 2017 and the figure expected to rise again by the end of 2018. Grange, retailers of prestige cars such as used Jaguar investigate the trends and make a few predictions for what we can expect in the next few years:

Image Source: Pixabay

New technology in the automotive industry

In order to adapt to the needs of the modern automotive consumer, manufactures have been taking steps to ensure that their new vehicle offerings are eco-friendly. 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.

This follows on from the news that Jaguar Land Rover will be opening a manufacturing plant for electric vehicles 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.

Of course, Jaguar aren’t the first automotive manufacturer to catch on to the trends – Nissan have sold thousands of electric vehicles already. 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.

Engineers at Nissan have been working hard to improve their current offerings. 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.

Electric vehicles have already changed the entire face of the automotive industry. 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.