The Rising Influence of Rising Affluence

[biocqr]

Formula E Race Showcases Electric Batteries of the Future

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-07-12/n-y-is-hosting-the-last-electric-car-race-of-its-kind

Starting next season, drivers will use sleek open-cockpit cars powered by much stronger batteries. The new vehicles, which bear a mild resemblance to the Batmobile, are capable of delivering a maximum power of 250 kilowatts (equivalent to roughly 335 HP) and reaching speeds of 174 miles per hour (280 km/h). The improved battery means drivers will no longer have to swap cars midrace.

“That’s a big, big step,” Nico Rosberg, a retired Formula 1 driver who’s now an investor in Formula E, said in an interview. “Battery performance is finally at a necessary level.”

Many consumers remain concerned that EVs will run out of juice, even though some models have ranges greater than 600 miles. “For an average EV customer, range is still the biggest criterion for deciding between traditional [cars] versus EVs,” Ravi Manghani, an analyst at GTM Research, said in an email. GTM is Wood Mackenzie’s advisory firm on the global electricity industry.

“It's a showcase for how the technology is evolving,” James Barclay, team director for Jaguar’s Formula E program, said in an interview. “We're seeing a huge change in the automotive industry: We will see more change in the next five years than over the prior 20 years.”