That’s it, end of round 1; electric vehicles have just been through their first full, proper, revolutionary decade on sale to a still-cautious public. The positives from 2010-2020? State-of-the-art EV tech, advances and surprises have been phenomenal; many pure-electric automobiles became more fun to drive than their combustion-engined counterparts; the EV-inspired reduction in air and noise pollution helped the planet and its peoples, particularly those in urban areas.
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Negatives? too many retail prices for pure-electrics remain prohibitively high; claimed mileage/range figures published by over-optimistic manufacturers are a disappointment; and we must concede that the UK’s flawed charging infrastructure must be scaring off some potential EV buyers.
UK automobile production: January figures hit 13 year low
Another colossal issue for a motor industry that’s still new to this EV lark is finding the correct balance; the sweet spot that encompasses important consumer demands. They include (in alphabetical order): affordability of vehicles/insurance; desirability/image; levels of on-board tech/ power; range; size and type of vehicle.
With internal combustion-engined cars, it was comparatively easy to strike the right balance, to give the customer exactly what he or she wanted, and at appropriate prices. Volkswagen was the master of this art from the 1970s to 2010s thanks to its automobile for the people, the Golf. In petrol or diesel guise, prices were sensible (from £20k-ish in today’s money), the design understated, with reasonable spec, power and space for occupants, all securely wrapped in a classy mid-sized hatchback body.