Like-for-like performance

Meeting climate change targets should be a priority, but automotive companies must begin offering vehicles that are not only as robust as petrol and diesel vehicles, but also better for the environment. It’s this like-for-like performance that will really win over the public. Electrical Review spoke to Steve Hughes of REO UK

A major barrier to the wide adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) is the design of components. For all their inefficiencies, the components used in internal combustion vehicles are certainly robust. To keep pace with consumer demand, automotive companies need to solve the challenges posed by electric vehicle design, such as how to efficiently manage braking energy.

There are components like water-cooled braking resistors that can achieve this and use the heat generated from braking to heat the cabin and provide effective pre-heating to the car’s batteries in cold weather. But until these components are widely adopted, the disparity between diesel car performance and that of EVs may continue to deter many drivers. Automotive manufacturers need to not only guarantee environmental friendliness, but efficiently provide high performance to spur public adoption of EVs and endorse the government’s plans.