More car makers are getting more serious about going electric or hybrid with their cars. They all acknowledge that the trend is pointing towards electric or hybrid. to be honest battery technology isn't quite ready to match the demands of a car to enable it to have a sufficiently long driving range while keeping the cost affordable. Even with the new upcoming Tesla model 3 the expected range is only 300km so that the car can be made more affordable. it is acceptable if the car is driven purely in the city and not between cities that are further than 300km! this puts a strain on the owner who has to buy a second fossil fuel powered car that can have a driving range of over 500km and can be quickly refuelled.
Porsche recently openly talked about their upcoming electric sports sedan claiming that it can have a better driving range than the Tesla P90 while having a ultra fast charging system. This is all talk at the moment since the car is not out yet. it is expected to be released 2 years later and who know what Tesla may be up to with their development. From what i can see Porsche is drumming up their car but without a physical unit on the road it is just gossip for the moment. The Porsche engineer who made a statement that the Tesla is a just a gimmick may have to swallow what he said because Tesla's development is moving at a rapid pace and if Porsche cannot introduce their car soon enough they will be the ones who will be laughed at.
Several countries have already planned to ban fossil fuel cars by a certain date putting more pressure on car companies to develop electric cars. Going green is the way of the future and this is not good for companies which do not have any development for hybrid or electric cars. Those car makers who are proactive will be developing their electric car technology now.
In the future the motor shows will be filled with electric cars. Even sports car makers cannot avoid developing electric cars. their market will shrink if they only focus on fossil fuel powered cars. The next big thing in automotive industry will be the development of a special battery that can be much lighter, more powerful, faster charging, less discharging, more durable and more compact than the ones now. if this new battery can be developed, the company manufacturing it will be incredibly rich. Battery technology will be the key to this business.
Thursday 30 June 2016
Monday 27 June 2016
Plug-in hybrids in Malaysia
Malaysia has always been slow when it comes to getting the latest models from all car makers. This is no different for plug-in hybrids. The good thing about the plug-in hybrids is that if the car is assembled locally it will qualify for tax exemptions under the EEV scheme that the Government introduced. So far only a handful of cars have benefitted from this. Mercedes introduced the E300 Diesel Hybrid which was significantly cheaper due to the tax exemptions. Seeing this example Volvo and BMW also jump on the bandwagon introduced their locally assembled hybrids.
Volvo was the first company in Malaysia to introduce the plug-in system with its XC90 hybrid. After localisation the price of the car was slashed by about RM50,000 which is a decent discount. BMW was the next to follow with the recent introduction of the X5 plug-in hybrid priced at a very attractive RM388k which is almost RM190k cheaper than if the car was imported directly from Germany. With such big savings it is no surprise that within one week of the launch there has been more than 500 units sold!
Volvo is pushing hard with their plug-in hybrids and aim to introduce many more models to capitalise on this. Price is very sensitive in Malaysia especially since the taxes on cars are so high, all car makers want to find a way to reduce the taxes and bring down car prices. The earlier incentives for EEV vehicles 3 years ago was a success and there was a sudden surge in sales of hybrids but when that incentive was stopped the sales of hybrids literally dried up overnight. Now that the incentive is given only for locally assembled hybrids car makers are relooking at this.
It is rumoured that Mercedes will introduce the C350 plug-in hybrid in 2017. This will be a major boost for Mercedes since it will be the first company to introduce a plug-in hybrid sedan rather than a SUV.
Electric cars so far have not enjoyed much popularity due to the high prices and lack of charging points. Until the time where the infrastructure is there to support electric cars it is unlikely that we will see many electric cars on the roads.
Volvo was the first company in Malaysia to introduce the plug-in system with its XC90 hybrid. After localisation the price of the car was slashed by about RM50,000 which is a decent discount. BMW was the next to follow with the recent introduction of the X5 plug-in hybrid priced at a very attractive RM388k which is almost RM190k cheaper than if the car was imported directly from Germany. With such big savings it is no surprise that within one week of the launch there has been more than 500 units sold!
Volvo is pushing hard with their plug-in hybrids and aim to introduce many more models to capitalise on this. Price is very sensitive in Malaysia especially since the taxes on cars are so high, all car makers want to find a way to reduce the taxes and bring down car prices. The earlier incentives for EEV vehicles 3 years ago was a success and there was a sudden surge in sales of hybrids but when that incentive was stopped the sales of hybrids literally dried up overnight. Now that the incentive is given only for locally assembled hybrids car makers are relooking at this.
It is rumoured that Mercedes will introduce the C350 plug-in hybrid in 2017. This will be a major boost for Mercedes since it will be the first company to introduce a plug-in hybrid sedan rather than a SUV.
Electric cars so far have not enjoyed much popularity due to the high prices and lack of charging points. Until the time where the infrastructure is there to support electric cars it is unlikely that we will see many electric cars on the roads.
Tuesday 21 June 2016
2016 Proton Perdana
Proton last week introduced the new new 2016 Proton Perdana. Why I said 'new new' is because there was an earlier release which was introduced about 18 months earlier meant only for Government use but some units did trickle down to the public. The car is heavily based on the previous generation Honda Accord. The new model is also based on the same Honda Accord model but with more revisions and changes. Aesthetic changes are visible outside but the inside little changes were made. The biggest groan from the public was the price. The car was priced from RM114,000 or US$28,500 and it was only RM11,000 cheaper than the cheapest model Honda Accord from the current generation. Who the hell will buy an old model even though it was heavily revised when you can get a brand new one that is current and offers more technological improvements?!
I am not sure what happened within Proton and if the engineers were sleeping on the job or someone in the top ranks were being fed very well by suppliers. The price is far to expensive and far too close to the current new Honda Accord. The advantage of having it locally assembled under Proton made little impact on the price. I believe the most of the public who were waiting for the car to be introduced was expecting a price that is at least RM20,000 cheaper giving it some sort of financial incentive to buy.
As expected Proton should really stick to rebadging since its engineering capabilities are limited. Going the rebadging route keeps them safe and not much can go wrong since the engineering work were done by the original car company who developed the car.
The competition will always be one step ahead of Proton if Proton only sticks to rebadging outdated models. The only way to stay competitive is through correct pricing where the price has to be much cheaper than the new model. Malaysians have been treated to tough automotive industry where buying cars is a big deal because of the high prices and many would settle for a rebadged older model if the price is much cheaper than the new model.
I am not sure what happened within Proton and if the engineers were sleeping on the job or someone in the top ranks were being fed very well by suppliers. The price is far to expensive and far too close to the current new Honda Accord. The advantage of having it locally assembled under Proton made little impact on the price. I believe the most of the public who were waiting for the car to be introduced was expecting a price that is at least RM20,000 cheaper giving it some sort of financial incentive to buy.
As expected Proton should really stick to rebadging since its engineering capabilities are limited. Going the rebadging route keeps them safe and not much can go wrong since the engineering work were done by the original car company who developed the car.
The competition will always be one step ahead of Proton if Proton only sticks to rebadging outdated models. The only way to stay competitive is through correct pricing where the price has to be much cheaper than the new model. Malaysians have been treated to tough automotive industry where buying cars is a big deal because of the high prices and many would settle for a rebadged older model if the price is much cheaper than the new model.
Thursday 2 June 2016
it is the beginning of the end for oil companies?
Oil companies have been raking in so much money in the last 60 years especially with the boom in car ownership worldwide however is this trend about to end? Big oil companies are now all looking towards alternative fuels or alternative power since the shift towards electric cars and fuel cell cars are moving into higher gear. Hydrogen fuel cell cars are starting to grow in popularity as the technology is becoming more accessible. Electric cars had a massive boost with Tesla pushing this idea despite car companies starting it off more than a decade ago. Prior to Tesla getting into the game traditional electric cars were deemed to be boring with no character but Tesla turned this around and made the electric car cool, fast and innovative.
More countries are also moving towards using clean energy from the sun via solar farms and also through water from the sea (a new concept pioneered in Australia to harness the power of the ocean's waves to power a pump to create kinetic energy which is then converted into electricity). All this just means that the consumption of fossil fuels will reduce but the impact is not yet felt but will be coming. The shift towards alternative energy is moving at such a rapid rate that it is hard for the oil companies not to take the necessary steps to be in the game before they become irrelevant.
Most cars for the next 20-30 years will still be running on fossil fuels but with each year that goes by more electric vehicles will hit the road. This shift is unlikely to stop any time soon and the sale of fossil fuel will continue to drop. Countries which are major producers and exporters of oil will suffer as their revenue will drop. Countries like Saudi Arabia for the first time in history is selling bonds to raise funds.
To the ultra conservative people they will think that the public is jumping the gun by going electric but little do they realise that the the pollution created from producing oil and its products is killing the environment.
Massive solar farms such as that in Morocco is making headway and many countries are looking towards the same concept. With the internet and the big push towards innovation the last decade, the improvement in technology for alternative energy is growing very rapidly further pushing the development in this new industry.
I believe in 30 years time some oil companies who don't change their business will suffer the same fate as Kodak..! no company in this planet is too big to fail. Nokia and Kodak died a miserable death for not looking into the future. In this competitive world, nothing last forever and if you don't move with it, you will be left behind!
More countries are also moving towards using clean energy from the sun via solar farms and also through water from the sea (a new concept pioneered in Australia to harness the power of the ocean's waves to power a pump to create kinetic energy which is then converted into electricity). All this just means that the consumption of fossil fuels will reduce but the impact is not yet felt but will be coming. The shift towards alternative energy is moving at such a rapid rate that it is hard for the oil companies not to take the necessary steps to be in the game before they become irrelevant.
Most cars for the next 20-30 years will still be running on fossil fuels but with each year that goes by more electric vehicles will hit the road. This shift is unlikely to stop any time soon and the sale of fossil fuel will continue to drop. Countries which are major producers and exporters of oil will suffer as their revenue will drop. Countries like Saudi Arabia for the first time in history is selling bonds to raise funds.
To the ultra conservative people they will think that the public is jumping the gun by going electric but little do they realise that the the pollution created from producing oil and its products is killing the environment.
Massive solar farms such as that in Morocco is making headway and many countries are looking towards the same concept. With the internet and the big push towards innovation the last decade, the improvement in technology for alternative energy is growing very rapidly further pushing the development in this new industry.
I believe in 30 years time some oil companies who don't change their business will suffer the same fate as Kodak..! no company in this planet is too big to fail. Nokia and Kodak died a miserable death for not looking into the future. In this competitive world, nothing last forever and if you don't move with it, you will be left behind!
what is considered too much power?
Recently a company in the middle east introduced a concept car with 5000hp!!! previously the benchmark for crazy power was the Bugatti Veyron with 1000hp and that was held for a long time until Koenigsegg decided to join the party with their 1:0ne hypercard with 1340hp. the horsepower game has moved in this direction with several car companies like Ferrari and Mclaren joining in with their hypercars closing in on 1000hp outputs. With 1000hp the tyres can just about keep the car on the road but with 5000hp?! there are no tyres on this planet that will be able to reign in the power. It is very likely that without traction control the car will be spinning its wheels until the tyre is completely destroyed since it is next to impossible to put the power down.
Dragsters with 5000hp are difference since they are only used for a few minutes but a street car with 5000hp will be a recipe for disaster. Building big engines with multiple turbos is not unheard of but pushing the boundary by 5 times is ridiculous. Sure it will sound good at the local pub telling the blokes you have 5000hp in your car. Naturally you will get laughed at and you won't be able to use 90% of the power.
Dragsters with 5000hp are difference since they are only used for a few minutes but a street car with 5000hp will be a recipe for disaster. Building big engines with multiple turbos is not unheard of but pushing the boundary by 5 times is ridiculous. Sure it will sound good at the local pub telling the blokes you have 5000hp in your car. Naturally you will get laughed at and you won't be able to use 90% of the power.
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