All about Electric Mobility: History, Ecosystem, Challenges & the future of E-Mobility

Climate change, oil scarcity, air pollution.. there is no shortage of reasons to go CO2 -neutral or emission free future. Electric mobility makes this possible in a significant way - provided that the electricity is generated from renewable energies.

But what does the switch to electric mobility actually mean and what are the consequences? Who are all the stakeholders around this E-Mobility ecosystem? We hope that this article may give you an overview on what Electric Mobility is all about and it’s transition.

A brief history of electric cars | E-Mobility

You’re wrong if you think, electric cars are a modern day invention.! Already in 1881, that is even before the first Benz car with internal combustion engine (1886.), the French engineer Gustave Trouvé showed a world first : a tricycle with electric motor and battery. In 1899, Camille Jenatzy – famous race car driver set a record for top speed of 105km/h top speed with his electric car.

If you’re curious to know more about the evolution of electric cars in detail - via pictures and video, please check out our other post Who made the first electric car | Evolution of electric car

What makes the Electric Mobility Ecosystem?

E-Mobility is not just about Electric cars and EV charging stations; there are other important stakeholders such as CPO, EMP, DSO, TSO, Utilities.. who all contribute to the overall E-Electric mobility ecosystem. 

Check out our other post Overview of Electric Mobility Ecosystem – to understand various stakeholders of the ecosystem and the key responsibilities of each and every one of them.

To what extent is electric mobility already present?

Electromobility is on the rise worldwide. According to Global EV Outlook, the global electric car fleet exceeded 5.1 million by the end of 2018. Unchallenged, China stays as the leader of electric car market, followed by Europe and the United States.

Source : Statista | Infographics : https://www.visualcapitalist.com

The release of Tesla Model 3 was huge factor for the massive growth of EV market. The upcoming low cost variants such as Volkswagen ID.3 may further take the EV growth to higher levels. However, it’s still not clear, whether the recent surge in sales is due to the government subsidies or have the EVs really become a favourite option for drivers – because there are quite a few critical challenges still ahead!

What are the main Challenges to E-Mobility

• Electric Vehicles are expensive: Yes, its true, still the prices of lectric vehicles are expensive for many of us. Automotive car OEMS are still in the infancy state of their product bathtub curve. In the coming years, when the technology matures and production increases, the price will come down.
• Battery technologies & performances: The attractiveness of an electric car stands or falls with the batteries: what distance does the car make with them, what do they cost, how much do they weigh? …are the critical parameters for any EV; but unfortunately the battery technologies for EV still far behind to meet the mass-volume demands, in terms of volume and price.
• Infrastructure: Except a handful of countries, in rest of the world, the electrical grid and charging infrastructure is not ready to accommodate a massive intake of EVs. The existing electrical grid connections need a major renovation – which will be a huge investment, and in some cases it may not be possible at all.
• Customer Awareness: This is a hard truth; most of the people in the world still do not have enough awareness about electric mobility, nor any other green energy technologies for that matter. We still hear so many voices of fears around electric cars. Aren’t we?. Common mam/woman’s willingness to participate is the key for the success of any new technology.

The future of Electric Mobility | E-Mobility

Despite promising forecasts, electromobility is still in its infancy: not only in terms of the market share, but also in terms of technology.

Indeed, the governments / Policymakers, Car OEMS, E-Mobility service Providers (EMSP) and Chargepoint operators (CPO) take initiative to overcome all the challenges of the industry. But, the road to full electric is still rough, and can become better only by better technology developments. Very soon, we may see a major technology break-through in battery technologies, growth in grid infrastructure, and eventually large volumes of EVs.