Any conference where automotive parts suppliers, representatives and representatives of suppliers meet up an exchange of interesting information will take place. This time, the venue was the Canadian Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association conference, where The Windsor Star was present, and all of the important developments and ideas were noted.
Apparently, the general attitude at the venue was one of EV acceptance, and general optimism towards future adoption of all-electric cars. It was argued that while the established ‘green’ automakers, the leader of which being Toyota with the third-gen Prius (and the rest of the family), were doing fine, creating new models, selling them and pushing the technology forward, now other automakers not normally associated with the current have joined the quest to make cars clean (-er).
The German brands were given as examples, as they all now offer some kind of hybrid, while working on all-electric cars too – Mercedes is developing on an all-electric B-Class whose drivetrain is being developed in collaboration with Tesla, which is currently the manufacturer with the best EV range figures on the market. Still, while Tesla may be a beacon of light for all-electrics in the US, Japan is still considered the world leader when it comes to electrified forms of propulsion.
It is also speculated that by 2020, one third of all vehicles sold around the world will get some sort of electric boost, or full-electric power. It is explained that “companies and workers who don’t grasp the looming electric future right now will be shut out of large parts of the industry and the available work.”
Finally, the idea of fun is brought up and the consensus on this is that it will also grow as per industry demand – fun factor is a very important aspect and the industry knows this… It’s not even that hard to grasp any more, as the Tesla Model S keeps getting praised for its handling, among others.
By Andrei Nedelea
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