When the National Electric Vehicle Sweden (Nevs) company acquired bankrupt Swedish automaker Saab it announced plans to take a huge bet on electric vehicles. While many were originally sceptical of Nevs plans it seems that the strategy is set to revolutionise the company. Panda New Energy, a Chinese firm which leases zero emission vehicles for chauffeur driven services, has ordered 250,000 electric vehicles.
This is an amazing order worth in excess of £8 billion and includes 150,000 electric vehicles to be based on the Saab 9-3 sedan.
[B]Is this a game changer?[/B]
When you bear in mind that official figures suggest there are just 665,000 electric cars in the world of which in excess of 80,000 are based in China, this is an astounding order. It seems that transport companies are now seriously looking towards electric vehicles as a means of fulfilling their requirements of the future.
Whether the Chinese authorities have had any say in this matter is a good question as there is no doubt the Chinese authorities have been pushing very hard for the introduction of more electric vehicles. There is also every chance that such a large order for the Chinese market could spur additional interest in the likes of the US and other markets around the world.
[B]Building cars for the order[/B]
Nevs has already announced plans to significantly increase its employee numbers and with over 800 supplies involved in the creation of the vehicles, it will certainly be a logistical challenge. The fact that the company was not created until 2012, and has until recently only sold gasoline vehicles, has not been missed by the mass media. The company’s recent announcement to go “all electric” did attract some interest and some criticism but it already seems to have paid for itself.
It will be interesting to see how the authorities react to this order and the perceived shift change in the electric vehicle market. Could we now see a flurry of orders from governments and local authorities around the world? Will we now see the much heralded banning of gasoline/diesel vehicles in city centres?
[B]The future of electric vehicles[/B]
It was recently announced that a number of governments around the world have agreed plans to phase out fossil fuelled transport by 2050. Indeed a number of states in the US have gone further with a much stricter timescale. We have seen similar types of promises, albeit on a much smaller scale, in years gone by and it will be interesting to see whether the authorities actually deliver. There has been scepticism for some time about the ongoing move to electric but there is no doubt it is gaining momentum.
[B]Conclusion[/B]
The £8 billion order received by Nevs is a phenomenal boost for an industry which continues to grow in popularity. This has the potential to be a game changer not only for the company but also for the industry and will give the public greater confidence going forward. Now all we need is for local authorities and governments around the world to follow suit and go “all electric”.