Electric cars make up a niche segment of vehicles in the total auto market globally, which is dominated by fossil fueled cars. Despite being a niche segment, electric cars are considered as the future of the automobile industry with more manufacturers joining with their respective initiatives. However, there is no standardized way of charging electric vehicles as every manufacturer uses a different technology for production of its electric car. But that might change soon, as reports suggest that BMW, Nissan and Tesla could collaborate and bring forth a simpler way to charge electric vehicles.
The news comes in after American automaker Tesla announced agreeing to share its patents with other manufacturers. A very rare step to have been taken by any manufacturer, the electric car maker is optimistic that the change will help boost the sales of electric cars globally in the future. While both Nissan and BMW declined to comment on the speculation, Nissan did convey that the company welcomes any initiative to boost the sales of electric vehicles.
The collaboration could lead to standardisation of recharging technology, while the companies could also work on reducing the cost of the batteries on electric vehicles. Electric cars have different power standards, and countries vary in their adoption of charging configurations. In most developed markets, this has been a wide impediment to the sale of electric vehicles. Moreover, electric cars command a higher price compared to conventional fossil fuelled vehicles.
The standardisation of charging technology would lead to the increment of charging stations on par with fuel and gas stations. You can also expect to see the recharge time on vehicles to reduce with the new technology. Nissan, BMW and Tesla make for over 80 percent of the electric car sales worldwide with Nissan’s Leaf being the most popular of the lot. The company recently sold its 1,00,000th Leaf, with sales having been doubled over the year. Tesla on the other hand has delivered over 25,000 luxury model S with the numbers rising. The company also has an electric SUV scheduled to launch next year in the US.
