Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Ernst & Young recently held various roundtables around the world focused on
electric vehicle (EVs) adoption. The takeaway: EVs are ramping, but before any
tipping point is reached a lot of collaboration and technology milestones need to be
reached.
When will EVs hit the tipping point? Ernst & Young, which is trying to position
itself in the clean tech market, reckons 2020 will see EVs hit the mainstream. In a
report, Ernst & Young argues that EVs will fulfill their promise, but collaboration
between vehicle and battery makers, governments and infrastructure providers is
needed. General Electric has also made similar arguments for cleantech in general.
The report summarizes roundtables held in Silicon Valley, Munich and Shanghai
and features illustrations that sum up the talk. Below is the graphic from the
Munich EV discussion.
Each region had a different take. Silicon Valley execs naturally focused more on the
tech of smart grids and infrastructure. In Shanghai, the focus was on power
generation and battery packaging.
And.
And.
That last item is definitely worth pondering. Batteries are critical to the EV equation.
What happens when a battery dies? Will customers fork over high four-figure to
five-figure dollar sums to replace batteries? Will batteries lose their staying power
over time just like they do in your laptop?
Simply put, Ernst & Young notes that a lot of EV moving parts need to come over.
In fact, there are so many moving parts that you wonder how Ernst & Young
identified 2020 as a tipping point. These tech turns always take longer than first
proposed.
With that in mind, Ernst & Young distilled 10 steps that are needed for broad EV
adoption.
1. Players need to invest in systems and infrastructure for EVs. Think smart
grids. On the consumer front, there may also be some upgrades. Consumer
Reports noted that you’ll need 220 volt outlets in your home to get a proper
charge.
2. Avoid showstoppers and make the transition seamless for the consumers. We’ll
get a feel for this one as all those early adopters get EVs next year.
3. Interests must be aligned at all parts of the EV chain.
4. Government needs to stay engaged. The government needs to take a roll in
development, funding, standards and policies to drive EV adoption.
5. Standards are needed to encourage economies of scale.
6. Batteries need to improve on the safety, pricing and performance fronts.
7. Delight EV owners. Ernst & Young argued that word of mouth will be critical
to drive EV adoption.
8. Cultivate first movers. That word of mouth marketing will come from business
and government fleets as well as early adopter consumers.
9. Find new business models. EVs will require a redesign of how vehicles are
built, sold and serviced.
10. Collaboration is key between government, industry and academia.
At least half of those 10 items will fall in the extremely challenging category.
Batteries, the EV buying experience, infrastructure standards and business models
are all going to be messy endeavors and could affect EV adoption. The good news is
that EVs are moving into the marketplace and ultimately consumers will vote with
their dollars.
Related: