In a very revealing comment, the manager of electrification at Opel (GM), Ralph Hannappel, was quoted as saying that the expectation was for electric cars to account for 10% to 15% of new car sales in the European market in 2030.
Not exactly optimistic figures. To be clear on that point, that’s 15% of new cars sales, not 15% of cars on the road (which would be more believable, but still probably underselling the speed of market change that we’ll see over the next 14 years).
The comments were made in an interview with Dutch vlogger Vincent Everts, apparently, and also included this interesting one: “We are convinced that electrification is the future.”
So … as a general trend, yes, but as rapid change, no? Maybe that’s actually more of a wish than an expectation?
Green Car Reports provides more: “While that would represent a significantly higher share than electric cars currently enjoy, it also makes for a fairly slow ramp up. Electric cars may eventually comprise the majority of new-car sales, but exactly when that will happen is unclear, Hannappel said. That’s likely not what European regulators want to hear, as they push for greater numbers of electric cars to address air pollution.”
Well, that last line must related to regulators who are not in the pockets of major auto manufacturers in Europe (who will go unnamed) — who seem to be in no hurry to transition away from diesel- and petrol-powered cash cows.
Before ending this, Hannappel did state, very interestingly, that Opel/GM hadn’t yet decided whether or not to join the pan-Europe electric vehicle fast-charging network consortium announced a few months back — which includes Daimler, BMW, VW Group, and Ford. That group is planning to have a network of at least 400 EV superfast-charging stations spread throughout Europe by 2020.
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