Electric vehicles will be costly but 'real' in 2012, report predicts

THE high price of electric vehicles will stop many potential buyers from going electric next year, a new forecast has predicted.

With more and more electric models on the road from the likes of Nissan, Mitsubishi, Chevrolet and soon Ford and Honda, consumers have more choice than ever when it comes to the vehicle to buy, but the high price will continue to put them off in 2012, Pike Research said.

In a new white paper, the analyst said that while the "optimal" price for an EV was US$23,750 (RM75,288), most models are priced well over US$30,000 (around $30,857), meaning "consumers hoping for an affordable EV ride have been left wanting".

Although battery costs are falling, Pike said that customers won't see the price benefits in the vehicle until 2013 or 2014 at the earliest.

In the white paper, "Electric Vehicles: 10 Predictions for 2012", Pike also predicted that car-sharing services such as those offered by car2go and Mu by Peugeot will help expand the market for EVs, because they target young, affluent urbanites.

It also suggested that Asia-Pacific will become the world leader in so-called "vehicle-to-grid" technologies, where vehicles provide power to the grid in peak times, noting in particular the strong need in China.

Overall though, 2012 could be the year where consumers finally accept that electric motoring is here to stay, said Pike. The Star/ANN