By David Shepardson
NEW YORK, April 18 (Reuters) - Demand for electric vehicles remains low in the U.S. market, but industry executives at the New York auto show this week said they are pushing ahead with billions of dollars in investments even while preaching patience.
Officials said their companies are charging ahead with a flurry of new electric vehicle (EV) models, citing rising regulatory requirements globally.
Last year, only about 2 percent of U.S. auto sales were comprised of full electric or plug-electric hybrid models, with Tesla Inc accounting for more than a third of those sales. The United States ranks seventh in EV sales as a percentage of overall sales, according to the International Energy Agency.
Michelle Krebs, analyst at online marketplace Autotrader, expects EV sales to remain relatively modest until charging infrastructure, prices and battery performance improve.
"It's going to be a pretty long runway," Krebs said, adding EV sales may first rise dramatically in government and corporate fleets.
In New York, industry executives said they face hurdles to selling EVs - persistently low fuel prices, lack of consumer education, lower residual values, higher upfront costs because of battery packs and consumer concerns about the availability of charging infrastructure.
Nevertheless, automakers are showing sportier, more creative EVs than the original plug-in models that were mostly small cars.
Hyundai Motor Co's luxury Genesis unit at the show showed an EV concept car, called the Mint, capable of an estimated 200 miles per full charge and fast recharging, while its Kia affiliate unveiled a concept EV crossover with butterfly wing doors called the HabaNiro.
Daimler AG showed a new Mercedes-Benz SUV called the EQC Edition 1886 that will go on sale next year "and then we have a whole lot of other electrics coming over the next couple of years," said Dietmar Exler, who heads Mercedes-Benz USA.
Jaguar Land Rover began selling its electric Jaguar I-PACE, in late 2018 in the United States and is selling only about 200 a month. "It will be a long, long time until we see mass adoption," said Joe Eberhardt, who heads the company's North American unit.
The $70,000 I-Pace was named World Car of the Year this week at the New York show.
There are nearly 300 million gasoline-powered vehicles on U.S. roads, Eberhardt said. "Nobody is going to drive them into the ocean."
He noted the economic advantages of EVs are slight at current gasoline prices. He suggested an I-PACE owner would on average save about $500 a year by using electricity rather than using fuel, but they will also save on maintenance costs.
Germany's Volkswagen AG and its Audi unit are introducing a half-dozen new electric vehicles in the coming two years and have aggressive volume targets, aiming to have 20 to 30 percent of its sales as EVs by 2025.
As part of VW's $25 billion "dieselgate" settlement, the German automaker agreed to add at least three additional electric vehicles, including an SUV, in California by 2020.
Volkswagen U.S. chief Scott Keogh said the company, which showed off a concept ID Buggy EV, is investing in EVs not as a "guilt play" to address its prior diesel issues but to make money.
Keogh says there will be a flurry of launches in the next three years but it will still be a few years beyond that. "I think 2025 is where you're really going to see - is it taking hold?" Keogh said.
Audi said this week it plans to start delivering its new electric E-Tron SUV to U.S. consumers next month. It has just delivered test vehicles to its 300 dealers, said Mark Del Rosso, president of Audi of America, noting that many people who reserved an E-Tron are new to the Audi brand.
(Reporting by David Shepardson
Editing by Nick Zieminski)
((David.Shepardson@thomsonreuters.com; 2028988324;)
大衞·謝帕德森(David Shepardson)
路透紐約4月18日電-美國市場對電動汽車的需求仍然很低,但本週紐約車展的業內高管表示,他們正在推動數十億美元的投資,同時也在宣揚耐心。
官員們表示,他們的公司將推出一系列電動汽車(EV)新車型,理由是全球監管要求不斷提高。
去年,美國汽車銷量中只有約2%由全電動或即插即用混合動力車組成,其中特斯拉(TeslaInc)佔三分之一以上。根據國際能源機構(InternationalEnergyAgency)的數據,美國在電動汽車總銷量中所佔比例排名第七。
在線交易市場AutoTrader分析師米歇爾·克雷布斯(MichelleKrebs)預計,在充電基礎設施、價格和電池性能改善之前,電動車銷量將保持相對温和。
“這將是一個相當長的跑道,”克雷布斯説,補充説,電動汽車的銷量可能首先大幅上升,在政府和企業車隊。
在紐約,業內高管表示,他們在銷售電動汽車方面面臨障礙-燃料價格持續走低、消費者缺乏教育、剩餘價值降低、電池組帶來的前期成本上升,以及消費者對充電基礎設施可用性的擔憂。
儘管如此,汽車製造商顯示出更運動,更有創意的電動汽車比最初的插入式車型大多是小型車。
在展會上,現代汽車公司(Hyundai Motor Co.)旗下的豪華創世紀汽車公司(Hyundai Motor Co)展示了一款名為“薄荷”(Mint)的電動車概念車,預計每充滿電200英里,充電速度快。而起亞汽車(Kia)旗下的起亞汽車(Kia)則推出
戴姆勒公司(Daimler AG)展示了一款名為EQC版1886的新型梅賽德斯-奔馳(Mercedes-Benz)SUV,該車型將於明年上市。
捷豹路虎(JaguarLandRover)於2018年末開始在美國銷售電動捷豹一步(JaguarI-Pace),目前每月的銷量僅為200輛。該公司北美部門負責人喬·埃伯哈特(JoeEberhardt)表示:“要實現大規模收養還需要很長一段時間。”
這款價值7萬美元的I-Pace在本週的紐約車展上被評為年度世界最佳汽車。
埃伯哈特説,美國道路上有近3億輛汽油動力汽車.“沒有人會把他們趕到海里去。”
他指出,按目前的汽油價格計算,電動汽車的經濟優勢微乎其微。他建議,一個I型汽車的擁有者平均每年將節省約500美元使用電力,而不是使用燃料,但他們也將節省維修費用。
德國大眾汽車(Volkswagen AG)及其奧迪(Audi)將在未來兩年內推出六款新的電動汽車,並設定了雄心勃勃的銷量目標,目標是到2025年將其電動汽車銷量的20%至30%作為電動汽車。
作為大眾250億美元的“柴油門”和解協議的一部分,這家德國汽車製造商同意在2020年之前在加州增加至少三輛電動汽車,包括一輛SUV。
大眾汽車(Volkswagen)美國首席執行官斯科特·基奧(ScottKeogh)表示,該公司正在投資電動車,不是為了解決以前的柴油問題,而是為了賺錢。
Keogh説,在接下來的三年裏將會有一系列的發射,但是這還需要幾年的時間。“我認為2025年是你真正要看到的地方-它正在流行嗎?”基奧説。
奧迪本週表示,計劃下個月開始向美國消費者推出其新型電動E-Tron SUV。奧迪(Audi)美國總裁馬克·德爾·羅索(Mark Del Rosso)表示,奧迪剛剛向300家經銷商交付了測試車。他指出,許多預訂了E-Tron的人都是奧迪品牌的新手。
(David Shepardson報道)
編輯:尼克·齊明斯基(Nick Zieminski)
(David.Shepardson@thomsonreuters.com;2028988324;)