Coué method or unbridled opportunism?
Last month, United States President Joe Biden, visiting Dearborn, Michigan, the temple of the American automobile, insisted that
"the future of the automobile industry is electric."
And to add that 2000 billion dollars - just that - would be devoted to this vast plan which will have to be validated by the Congress to be applied.
The text provides for multiple incentives to support the electric vehicle market, with the construction of a national network of 500,000 charging stations by 2030. This program aims in fact to put the United States back in the race for electric car currently led by China, the main producer of batteries.
To discover
What responsibility at the wheel of an “autonomous car”?
For its part, the European Union, believing that it would alone solve the challenges of air quality in cities and respect for the environment, has put in place regulations so restrictive that they oblige manufacturers to commit to all-electric.
"This transition to forced march could, if we are not careful, have the opposite effect of that sought",
predicts our colleague Nicolas Meunier, in
The Scam of the clean car
(Hugo Document). A book that must absolutely be read as it sheds light on the “fantasized” world of tomorrow. In a movement of collective hysteria, the Member States have launched headlong into a frenzied race for who will negotiate the green turn as quickly as possible. The European green pact adopted last December aims to reduce CO2 emissions by 55% by 2030. As part of the climate law, French deputies have already enacted a ban on the sale of vehicles emitting more than 123 g / km of CO2 from 2030. A necessary step on the way to a total ban on the sale of combustion engine vehicles in 2040. For its part, the European Commission, as part of the Climate strategy, is due to present on July 14th. a series of proposals.
Two options are under consideration: a ban on new petrol cars from 2035 and no longer 2040 as initially planned, and an extremely strict definition of the future Euro 7 standard on automotive emissions from 2025. If the latter scenario had to be confirmed, it would be
"a ban by the back door",
underlines Hildegard Müller, the president of the German automobile federation, in
Les Echos
.
Faced with the construction impossibility of complying with these standards, thermal models would be de facto excluded.
The automobile deserves better than the worst-case scenario.
Especially at a time when the health crisis is bringing the need for individual mobility back to the fore.
Soaring electricity prices
Mercedes EQS. Mercedes-Benz AG - Global Communications Mercedes-Benz Cars & Vans / http: //media.daimler.com
The electric car remains an equation with many unknowns. To be honest, it is not certain that the all-electric will lead us towards a better world. Beyond the fact that this ecological transition will have a social and economic cost - we are talking about the destruction of hundreds of thousands of jobs and the exclusion of the most vulnerable from electromobility -, the question of the production of electricity. electricity and distribution infrastructure remain crucial points. Motorists have not finished railing. In addition to a restriction of freedoms to which the electric car will assign us, its use raises serious questions. Electricity will not be cheap. Its price is thus already blazing. In recent weeks, contracts expiring in 2022 have exceeded € 55 per MWh (1,000 kWh), twice as much as in 2019.And observers do not see a trend reversal. France will not even be able to benefit from an essentially carbon-free production based at 96% on nuclear power plants since its price is strongly correlated with the CO2 market. Motorists will be caught in a pinch because, at the same time, the price of road fuels is expected to increase by almost 35% by 2030.
BMW i4 and iX.
Bmw
In this context, electrification represents the lifeline of the automobile.
Gradually, all vehicles will use it.
By 2030, they will not be able to escape the injection of a higher or lower dose of watts.
From microhybridization (12 or 48 V battery coupled to an alternator-starter) to 100% electric, passing to the parallel hybrid and the rechargeable hybrid, all electrified technologies will be deployed.
Each manufacturer will now draw from this basket of solutions.
In total, we must be prepared to see a surge of several hundred new models in the coming years.
All the programs are accelerating and some are now showing their willingness to skip ahead by going directly to the 100% electric or plug-in hybrid model.
Audi e-Tron GT.
C. CHOULOT
Alpine and Jaguar have already decided to operate solely on the electric market by 2025. A hell of a paradigm shift. A pioneer in electromobility with the Zoe, Renault will launch seven electric models by 2025, including a compact sedan derived from the Megane e-Vision concept in winter 2021 and a city car derived from the R5 study in early 2023. D ' by then, Nissan will have introduced its Ariya SUV based on the CMF-EV platform to the market. The Stellantis group also wants to become a leader in electromobility. The brands of the former PSA group will be able to offer at least one electric version per family of models by 2025. The group is preparing four new electrified platforms which will see the light of day between 2023 and 2024. On the side of Italian brands, it is also about setting course for electrification.All future Alfa Romeo and Maserati will carry an electric machine. Jeep is also up to date.
The Kia-Hyundaia group has achieved the feat of already marketing all electrified technologies, including hydrogen, with the Hyundai Nexo SUV.
With his Ioniq family, this Korean manufacturer wants to place itself in the field of accessible performance.
For its part, Kia also wants to play the leading roles.
The emblem of its offensive is the EV6 crossover.
This dynamically styled vehicle will be available in several versions, from 229 to 584 hp.
The price will start at € 47,990.
More and more aerodynamic lines
Ford has raised its targets. By 2025, it will devote 30 billion euros of investment, or eight billion euros more than initially, to electromobility to be able to achieve 40% of its sales in electricity in 2030. All the manufacturers put the turbo. A pioneer of the hybrid, Toyota wants to catch up on the rechargeable battery market. The Japanese manufacturer announces the launch of 70 electrified vehicles by 2025, including an SUV from the bZ4X concept which will be its first 100% electric model at the end of 2022. Like Alpine and Jaguar from 2025, Mini will become a 100% electric brand in the horizon 2030. At this date, the BMW group thinks that zero emissions will represent half of its volumes. The Bavarian firm has decided to speed up the launch of the i4, the emblem of its offensive.Based on the body of the next 4 Series Gran Coupé, this sedan (€ 59,700) arrives on the market a few months in advance, at the end of 2021. Its performance is promising: a power of 340 hp, a range of 590 km and the possibility of recovering 164 km of charge in 10 minutes. The confrontation promises to be exciting with Audi and Mercedes who are also sharpening their weapons. Alongside its 23 plug-in hybrid models, the star firm will offer one electric vehicle per model family. This year, the range will be enriched with an EQB and an EQS, a truly revolutionary 5.21 m limousine. With its fluid lines rewarded with an aerodynamic Cx of 0.22 and its 107.8 kWh battery, this limousine plans to cover up to 770 km between two refills of electricity! For its part,Audi can rely on the richness of the VW group's platforms to deploy its electric range. While the e-Tron GT sports sedan uses technology from the Porsche Taycan, the Q4 e-Trons are based on the group's standard MEB structure. A third PPE (Premium Platform Electric) platform authorizing 800 V loads is under development. It will be used in particular for the A6 e-Tron sedan launched in 2023, like the new electric PorscheMacan. The MEB platform will represent most of the 50 electric vehicles that the German group plans to market by 2025. This is the case of the Cupra Born, a revisited VW ID.3. Three models will be offered, corresponding to respective ranges of 315, 420 and 540 km: 45, 58 and 77 kWh. The first powers a 110 kW (150 hp) engine.The 58 kWh accumulators can be combined with 150 or 204 hp engines. Anxious to defend a sporting image, Cupro will crown the range with a VZ1 version announced at 230 hp.
All manufacturers have taken the route of electrification.
At Jaguar Land Rover, the all-terrain vehicle brand is preparing six all-electric models, the first in 2024. After focusing on 12 V and 48 V mild hybridization, Suzuki has entered the plug-in hybrid SUV market with the Across based on the Toyota Rav4.
Alongside the historical players in the sector, new protagonists, in particular Tesla, MG Motor and Aiways, are taking advantage of this paradigm shift to consolidate their position or invest in the market.
sportswomen connected to the outlet
McLaren Artura.
Mclaren
Sports car manufacturers are not spared by the energy transition.
Ferrari has formalized the arrival of a 100% electric model in 2025, two years after its return to Le Mans in the premier Hypercar category with a hybrid engine.
Its main competitor, the English manufacturer McLaren, is also developing electrified vehicles.
Claiming a power of 1,070 hp, its new Speedtail supercar accommodates a hybrid powertrain.
As for the Artura launched on the market before the end of 2021, it is powered by a plug-in hybrid V6 claiming CO2 emissions of 129 g / km.
Impressive in their quantity, these programs are already worrying manufacturers.
Will there be enough batteries to power all those vehicles that are going to crash into the