Furthermore American industrialisation brings internal combustion cars manufacturer to standardisation (Ford T model) that allowed producer to lowering selling price of cars compared to ECs reaching the mass market. "In addition, as the sophistication of the automobile has increased, the network of car dealerships, petrol stations and auto mechanics have become intimately linked, stable, extensive and strong; and provide an important source of the externalities that make the position of the gasoline car difficult to assail." Summarising EVs major drawbacks were: inability to climb even gentle hills, short range and insufficient top speed. 3.1.2 The middle years (1930–1989) The renaissance of EVs began in 1939-1940 in Great Britain and in …show more content…
From City Car to Sport Cars range of models was very differentiate. EVs at that time performed from 80 to 320 km range, at a top speed from 80 to 130 Km/h, recharging battery time took from 3 to 6 hours and the purchasing cost started from 8,000$ for the most basic models. A sales success, the 2004–2009 Toyota Prius became the most recognized hybrid on the market, first in the top ten list of most sold EVs. from 2000 to 2010 we can record further increasing of the market due to the entrance in the market of most important European car manufacturer such as BMW, Peugeot, Renault, Mercedes-Benz. 2007 can be considered as a pivotal year with 94% increased sales on EVs compared to the previous year. In 2008 costumers attended the launch on the market of luxury and super car EVs car segment performing even better than their internal combustion motors rivals. While oil price was steady arising, Tesla Motors, one of the market leaders planning to expand is production in following years, in 2008 commercialised Tesla Roadster identifying a market niche; a $109,000 all-electric two-seater high-performance car, performing up to 210 Km/h and a range of 360-400 km.In 2009 starded first studies and testing on wireless recharching EVs battery technology "EVs have gone from a popular choice in the early years to an …show more content…
, 3.2 Present: Current Market Overview "Europe is entering the initial adoption phase of electric mobility, with sales moving beyond the margin of 1% in some countries". Norway is the country with the highest percentage of purchasing in the last years, followed by Holland. Fig. 8: "EU EVs uptake Rate" - Source: "Electric vehicles in Europe: gearing up for a new phase?", McKinsey&Company Report (2014); p. 10. One important parameter to study is the dissemination of EVs charging stations. One of the advantages of EVs compared to conventional cars is that the battery can be recharged at home from domestic plug. But estimation of 50% of population don't have a garage, especially in high density urban areas. For the diffusion EVs is therefore important to provide a network of public charging stations. The charging times ranging from 20 minutes to 4 hours. Investment in charging stations are both private (Tesla Motors for instance owns and allows free use for Tesla cars) and public. The problem of this early stage of development is that EVs manufacturer deliberately don't