Electric Car (EV) – A New Round of Industrial Revolution

The electric car is not just competing with oil (gasoline or diesel) cars in market share; it brings a new industrial revolution. Technology brought the Industrial Revolution, from steam engines to mechanical devices (1769-1830). Then telegraph, telephone, electric light bulb (19^th century), the combustion engine and automobile, airplane, radio, television, computers, and internet (20^th century), and the automation era to the information age. The impact was broad, from communications, transportation, entertainment, work practice, and social lives.  Computer technology made the information age transformable to digital and the Internet made the digital revolution go viral spatially across national borders. The arrival of electric cars signifies not just a change of engine in the automobile which does have a huge impact on the environment, but also brought the possibility of rapid integration (and advancement) of computing, large data, 6G or 7G internet and artificial intelligence (AI) applied to cars (transportation plus) which will have a significant impact on human lives beyond transportation into lifestyles. An electric car equipped with advanced communication and control tools can be highly integrated with advanced applications in the house (appliances and household activities, scheduling and monitoring), public information (weather, road, and traffic conditions), and utilities (electric grid and charging stations). The arrival of auto-drive will save humans more time for other matters than used for driving or parking. It is clearer to humans than the first industrial revolution that a new round of industrial revolution electric cars can bring to us soon.

Technology Elements Needed in the Electric Car

One can break down the technology elements into five known categories with room for future technology surprises. The five elements are:

1. Battery system: Of course, the battery system is a key element in the electric car. Because of the variety of electricity supply systems available, the battery design will be different for different models of electric cars.
2. Battery charging system: This element may have two parts depending on the external charging facilities available. It may include a complete internal charging system, for example, utilizing solar energy collected by solar panels installed in the car (roof, door, or windshield) and/or an external charging system available at home or commercial charging stations.
3. Artificial intelligence system: The electric car will have an intelligent control system directing the electric car to drive or park, completely automatic or semi-automatic drive. The system must be able to recognize roads and scenes and traffic conditions to make intelligent decisions to drive or park. The external information may be richer in an advanced city environment than in a rural area. (The evolution of the external intelligence system may take a longer time.)
4. Mechanic system: Although mechanic systems in cars may inherit many similar designs, the electric car has the advantage of implementing a higher level of electrical control on many mechanic devices. (For example, individual wheel control, rotating 360-degree freedom). Possibly, more innovation will appear for ease of parking, wheel or parts replacement, and interior amenities design.
5. Design system: Automobile design will be revolutionized to impact both appearances and functions. The removal of air intake and gas exhaust alone may invite new designs for innovative ideas. (For example, more entertainment and appliance applications).

In addition, the electric car has a non-technological element that is important in its deployment and evolution, that is its market size in different environments (Country), Politico-economic climate, and peer competition.

Electric car – An Emerging New Industry with a Global Impact

There are several front runners of electric car companies, surprisingly, the existing oil car industry, for its reasons, has miscalculated the rise of electric car:

1. The Tesla company in the U.S. is a new company leading in electric cars. Tesla wisely invested in China and has a very efficient manufacturing facility in China. The other American automobile companies are falling far behind. The U.S. may apply electric car import taxes to protect Tesla.
2. The Mercedes Benz company in Germany was conservative toward electric cars. It partnered with Chinese company BYD on a 50:50 venture in 2021 but decided to pull out completely in September 2024, a short-sighted misjudgment. Similarly, Japanese and Korean car companies made wrong judgments and lost opportunities and confidence.
3. China views electric cars as the future, encouraging investment. BYD is now the leading electric car company in China (among many new companies) as well as the biggest exporter rising fast in Europe and South America. It uses its low-price advantage to capture market share with significant success, with a 41% growth in sales in 2024. Xiaomi Auto was founded in 2021 by Lei Jun, founder of Xiaomi’s cell phone company. When its cell phone business was sanctioned by politico-economic forces, Xiaomi decided to go into the electric car business, and its cars are very innovative in design. Huawei, China’s biggest 5G&6G server, cell tower, and smartphone company, analyzed the electric car business and its technology dependencies and wisely decided to focus on providing the intelligence system to the electric car industry rather than making cars itself. The internal part of the electric car intelligence system is industry-driven and Huawei has a strong leg-up, however, the external intelligence system has many politico-economic factors to overcome.

China leads in electric cars both in technology, manufacturing, and marketing (global share). China needs to deal with the politico-economic factors.

International Outlook of Electric Car’s Future

The future of electric cars depends on the global environment, which we may discuss as follows:

1. Electric energy system and its capacity: Electric car needs an efficient and broad-based electric charging network, from homes, roads, and commercial charging systems. This is the biggest hurdle from the point of view of global deployment and acceptance of electric cars. This is a national infrastructure challenge. Even in the U.S. its grid system and electricity supply are not ready for electric cars. China seems to be thinking ahead and can provide some infrastructure assistance to other nations.
2. Current oil car markets are all potential replacement markets for electric cars. But each market has its entry barriers. One may divide the world into South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and North America, six major markets. Electric car companies must understand each area’s politico-economic conditions to develop an entry plan. Currently, China is leading Asia to be the front-runner. BYD seems to be already focused on Europe and South America (Brazil). Africa is a per capita GPD issue whereas North America is more of a political problem. However, the United States may take a 180-degree change of course to embrace electric cars along with Canada and Mexico since it is hard to resist the wave of electric cars. Large cities in Australia may be ready for entry but will be slower in adaptation nationally.

Based on the current situation, we may conclude that the future of electric cars is very positive. Some fundamental forces are working for the benefit of the electric car industry. First, there is no fundamental technology barrier for electric cars. The recent AI boost in R&D is beneficial to electric cars. There is also the force from the environmental protection segment of the world that will keep driving the growth of electric cars, despite the U.S. pulling out of the Paris Accord. The world economy, although affected by COVID, the Russia-Ukraine war, and the Israel-Hamas conflicts, the overall world GPD is growing with China leading it. In many of the international forums such as G20, BRICS, SCO, RCEP, and ASEAN, promotion of economic development will pave the road for electric cars, for example, in energy development, electricity supply (more hydraulic dams and electricity transmission systems), satellite communication (Beidou GPS) and AI advancement are all supporting electric cars with impetus. Of course, there are issues like US-China relations that can have an impact on electric cars, but the author feels that its negative impact will not be detrimental and there is a high probability that the U.S. and China will improve their relations and collaborate. Collaborations on battery technology, battery recovery and reuse, and establishment of international standards of auto-drive systems, etc. could be very positive help for the electric car industry and its global outlook.