Quel avenir pour la voiture électrique ? What Future for the ...

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Quel avenir pour la voiture électrique ?

What Future for the Electric Car?

Pierre Bonnaure

The “conventional” car industry is in crisis. This is not a recent phenomenon, but the

current economic crisis has taken it to new levels. We may add to this the bad press that

fossil fuels are receiving in a context where oil is becoming scarcer and greenhouse gas

emissions are being combated. Does this offer brighter prospects for the development of

electric cars, which are far from new as a concept, but have not so far succeeded in

achieving commercial take-off? Noting the recent increase in the number of new electric

models, Pierre Bonnaure has turned his attention to this question. In this article he

outlines the current state of this sector: the excitement around the concept and the

technological options and limitations… He stresses, above all, that the market for all-

electric vehicles should be confined to small urban models, and only then if the

performance and lifespan of the new batteries turn out to match the claims made for

them, if the authorities support the initiative, and if recharge electricity is not subject to

tax. In such a context, the situation seems more conducive to the development of hybrid

vehicles, whose features are also described here. Lastly, above and beyond the technical

aspects, Pierre Bonnaure reminds us how the electric vehicles market is dependent on

much wider developments (industrial production of batteries and recycling, establishment

of a network of recharge/repair stations, development of the electrical grid to meet the

additional demand for power etc.) - dependent, in short, on a systemic revolution that is

far from having begun.

Revue Futuribles, no 351, April 2009, 104 pages, Paris.