i3 - May/June 2018 - 29

more than just transport vehicles, but
rather more like CE devices. The focal
point of its interior is a gigantic LCD
screen (49-inches wide by 9.8-inches
tall) atop the dashboard, used by both
the driver and the passengers as a
Shared Experience Display, and controlled by voice, gestures and a touchscreen steering wheel.
"The BYTON Concept SUV connects
both the automotive and digital industries
in ways that will deliver an entirely new
connective experience for people on the
move," says company Co-founder and CEO
Carsten Breitfeld. BYTON plans to launch
both a sedan and a multi-purpose vehicle
(MPV) in 2021 and 2022.
"If you think about it, [an EV] is
a fundamentally different car," says
Steven Center, vice president of connected and environmental business
development at American Honda Motor
Co. Inc., in Torrance, CA. "What we do is
compromise, to some extent because we
have these coexisting alternatives: internal combustion, hybrid, plug-in hybrid
and full-on battery."
In fact, Honda's new Clarity sedan -
which is available as an FCEV, BEV or
PHEV - did start with a clean sheet
design that accommodates each of those
three electric powertrains without compromise, Center says. "We planned for
the batteries under the floor as opposed
to stuffing them in the trunk because we
didn't have a floor plan design, or raising the car," he explains.
Hybrids are seen as transitional technology representing the shift from one
powertrain solely to another (ICE to
electric), but "it takes time for people to
adopt new technology when it comes to
EVs" because the ownership experience
is much different, says Brian Maragno,

C TA . t e c h / i 3

director of EVs at Nissan North
America Inc., in Franklin, TN.
TERMS TO KNOW
But while fewer than
500,000 BEVs were sold globBEV: battery electric vehicle
ally in 2016, the sales growth
was tremendous, Maragno
EV: electric vehicle
states. And long-term, he preFCEV: fuel cell electric vehicle
dicts, falling EV prices and
increasing range brought about
HEV: hybrid electric vehicles
by battery improvements will
ICE: internal combustion engine
"really open up the market. As
PEV: plug-in electric vehicle
you see big jumps in those
things, you're going to see huge
PHEV: plug-in hybrid electric vehicle
jumps in adoption."
SUV: sport utility vehicle
Driving range of EVs already
has
increased markedly in the
ZEV: zero emission vehicle
seven years since Nissan introduced its Leaf BEV in 2010 as
a model-year '11 car that offered 72 miles of range. The 2017 Leaf offered
150 miles of range. Next year, the new Leaf will go more than 200 miles
on a full charge. Meanwhile, the average selling price of the car has also
fallen in the past seven years.
"One thing is clear. The future of mobility is electric. The question is
how the transition will look technology-wise and time-wise?" says
Wieland Bruch, a spokesman for BMW AG in Munich, Germany.
BMW expects that 20 percent of the vehicles it sells globally will be BEVs
or PHEVs by 2025, even if that forecast excludes strong non-plug-in
hybrids and 48-volt mild hybrids. Thus, 80 percent will remain conventional vehicles, "and we think that for another 25 years the internal combustion engine will be selling in bigger numbers on a global scale than the
electrified vehicles," he says. "But then we think electrified vehicles will
overtake the absolute number of internal combustion engines."
Until then, Bruch says, "We need plug-in hybrids as a sort of bridging
technology."

MARCH/APRIL 2018

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