Might the automotive major lose out on the EV revolution?

Might the automotive major lose out on the electric vehicle revolution? This was the question asked at the INTRASME Electric Vehicle Opportunity Workshop at the ICC, Berlin (19th April).

 

At an event of electric vehicle manufacturers hosted by the INTRASME project, Dr. Pietro Perlo from IFEVS drew attention to the emerging opportunities in light electric vehicles. He posed the challenging proposition that the lighter a vehicle is, the more competitive electric vehicles are against internal combustion engines - increasing the opportunities for small businesses in scooter and micro passenger cars to seize the market from the established multinationals.

 

Francisco Carranza from Nissan Europe brought another perspective talking about the Nissan's ambitions for electric vehicles with 40,000 units sold in the region and 100 million Euros of investment. Mr Carranza, highlighted how SMEs are becoming Nissan's partners for the development of EV charging infrastructure.

 

Dr. Peter Harrop, from IDTechEx presented forecasts and opportunities for pure and hybrid electric vehicles for Land, Sea and Air, a market growing around 10% avg. annual growth during 2013-2020. Dr. Harrop emphasized the need to see the electric vehicle industry as a bigger market where components developed for electric cars can be transferred across all types of electric vehicles such as land, sea and air electric vehicles. A broader scope on electric vehicles can reveal more opportunities for SMEs.

 

 

Franco Gonzalez from IDTechEx showcased examples of innovative SMEs developing EVs and a range of new technologies. Some innovative SMEs gave presentations about their own companies at the workshop:

• Jakub Ditrich from Ekolo presented his view on how electric bikes are paving the way to emobility

• Thomas de los Santos from Innovative Mobility Automobile presented the Colibri, a Micro Electric Vehicle, showcased at the Geneva Motorshow 2013 - they intend to enter production in 2014.

• Dr Stryzhakova from Yunasko, presented the energy caps project, an FP7 funded project that aims to develope a sustainable and safe hybrid supercapacitor with high specific energy and maintained high specific power and cyclability for the automotive sector.

Professor Chris Pickering and Dr. Neil Adams from Innovation Bridge Consulting, UK cautioned that in the rush to bring new innovations to market, many firms faced the challenge of commercialising products whilst continuing to invest, the so called 'valley of death.' They highlighted the European Commission funding opportunities currently available and recommendation that the forthcoming Horizon 2020 funding programme could assist firms to bring commercially viable prototypes into production.

 

 

The event was funded by the INTRASME project through the European Commission Seventh Framework Programme.

 

The presentations and audio for the INTRASME Workshop can be accessed here.

 

To be informed about related news and events follow www.intrasme.eu  and www.electricvehiclesresearch.com .