LATEST 2020 TECHNOLOGIES IN ELECTRIC VEHICLES

2020 should be another interesting year for new EV models entering the market. 

"The number of electric vehicles on the road around the world will hit 125 million by 2030, the International Energy Agency forecasts. The world's fleet of electric vehicles grew 54 percent to about 3.1 million in 2017. The IEA says government policy will continue to be the linchpin for electric vehicle adoption." - CNBC. 

1. Battery Technology
2. Charging Technology
3. Self Driving
4. Solar Cars
5. Electric Planes
6. Safety, Connectivity and Information Systems

Battery Technology

Technological advances in electric-powered flight today will not only make the act of flying cheaper for you. Crucially, they also promise to revolutionize how the aeronautics industry impacts the global environment. Airplanes release around 500 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year, representing a significant contribution to global warming. Electric flight replaces petrochemical consumption with cleaner, battery-powered electricity.

the progress in optimization of batter technology has been too minimal that it looks like only lithium-ion will be the go to solution for many years. Advancements in t=battery technology have been painfully slow for many industries, including EVs. But when steady improvements in cell chemistry, anode and cathode material, high-yield fabrication process and economic scale should help reduction in cost for each battery around 6-8% every single year.

But there are some exciting developments in alternatives to lithium-ion. Solutions like micro-capacitors, miniaturized solid oxide fuel cells, graphene polymer, aluminum-graphite, and gold nano wire technology and even sodium based alternatives could replace the apparently outdated lithium-ion very soon. 

2020 might be a very exciting year for battery tech.

"And better-than-predicted improvements since 2010 have already brought large-format cells to a price of $145 per kilowatt-hour (if you believe repeated statements from GM's product chief Mark Reuss) when the 2017 Bolt EV launches late this year. Change comes slowly. Note that Toyota still uses the nickel-metal-hydride battery packs it launched in its first hybrid 20 years ago." - Green Car Reports. 

Charging Technology

Consumers are currently limited in their capacity mainly due to their range-per-charge and charging time. If directly compared to the conventional car market, EVs are not quite as convenient for long-distance travel, even though they are much more environmental-friendly. However, it is not convenient to recharge battery 2-3 hours every time. To overcome this problem, Ev manufacturing companies will need to setup availability of super-chargers(fast) or charging stations to the consumers.

Other car manufacturers are also following suit too: -

"Audi, for one, recognizes the need—and has committed that a network of 150-kW fast-charging sites will be available for the all-electric Audi Q6 e-Tron Quattro luxury crossover it will launch in 2018.

General Motors CEO Mary Barra, on the other hand, said flat-out that GM is not planning to spend anything on a network of CCS quick-charging sites for the Bolt EV." - Green Car Reports.

Self Driving

 Many EV manufacturers have already made great leaps forward in self driving technology. Tesla, Toyota, Peugeot and many more are relentlessly working on making this a reality for the vast majority of car owners in the future. 

The gap between reality and expectations was wider for vehicles that could drive without human assistance in at least some situations . Morgan Stanlet in 2015 said that self driving cars would be available by 2020, while General Motors, BMW, and Tesla each said they would have autonomous vehicles ready by 2021.

Electric - Vehicle adoption has also been progressing slowly, but strong indications show how it could expand signficantly over this decade.

Solar Cars

A solar-powered electric car that runs without needing charging may sound impossible, but Toyota, Sharp, and NEDO (New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization of Japan) have joined forces to hopefully make it a reality.

By pairing together the best solar panels on the market with the most efficient batteries available not to mention years worth of experience with car-manufacturing the companies are hoping, theoretically, to produce a vehicle that might run forever.

One of the main drawbacks with fully electric cars is that, even if their sales were to surpass those of petroleum based vehicles, they'd still need to be charged which, in turn, means a string of charging docks, requiring space and further funds.

Electric Planes

Electric and hybrid-electric propulsion is rapidly revolutionising mobility technologies across industries, from automotive to marine. And the aviation industry is no exception. Airbus is committed to developing, building and testing electric and hybrid-electric future technology that will enable the aviation industry to significantly reduce the CO2 emissions of commercial aircraft.

Safety, Connectivity and Information Systems

Connectivity, for example, will be of vital importance for safer autonomous vehicles. Higher bandwidths are also required for streaming 3K-4K videos in real-time for in-car entertainment.

Improvement and innovation in software will be another trend to watch in 2020. Just like the ICE industry, things like connectivity, safety, information, and in-car entertainment should see some interesting developments in 2020.

With announcements over the last few months of Tesla's "summon" feature being included in its latest software update, it will be interesting to see what new functions will be added in 2020.