Pike Research just published - 'Electric Vehicles: 10 predictions for 2011'. Here are the most relevant / interesting conclusions:
- “Range anxiety” will prove to be more fiction than fact'. (I agree)
- 'Automakers will get pushback from EV owners regarding the length of time it takes to fully charge a vehicle'. (I agree, but it is only relevant for extended range driving and distress recharging)
- 'Many EV charging stations will spend the majority of their time idle' (I agree, but that does not make their presence any less necessary to kickstart the market).
- 'The landscape for charging equipment will undergo a seismic shift as the category swiftly moves toward becoming a commodity market.' (Maybe. We will see new business models which may off-set this to a degree, together with a focus on the back-end).
- 'The majority of people who drive a plug-in vehicle won’t own it'. (i.e. they will hire or rent an EV first. Try before you buy - makes sense to me)
Have you noticed the number of conflicting articles around about electric vehicles at the moment? Some are predicting disappointing sales, others a golden age. The truth is nobody really knows...
