This is no longer a fashion for electromobility - Moje-auto.pl

Artur Owczarek

Brand Product Manager Moje AutoHe has been involved in the automotive industry for years. He is passionate about cars and detailing. On his blog, he shares his knowledge and experience, offering tips on how to effectively care for your car and extend its life.

88th edition of the Geneva International Motor Show has just become history. New or modernized versions of models debuting there will soon appear in showrooms. Electric models and accompanying visions were an important part of the exhibition electromobility. These may become widely used or remain in the category of curiosities.

On the tether of electromobility

After my first impressions from the Geneva showroom, I became convinced that we already live in the era of electric cars. So I will come back to this topic. For now, I approach them with reservation, mainly due to the small range that excludes travel between cities. Moreover, they also lack appropriate infrastructure with publicly available charging points. And you could see such things every now and then during your stay in Geneva. And what's more, with vehicles "refueling" in them.

Of course, automotive companies recognize the shortcomings of the batteries currently used. Audi is preparing the e-tron sports SUV for longer journeys, Hyundai is preparing the Kona crossover, and Jaguar has already declared a range of 480 kilometers in the i-Pace model. The first model of the new brand - owned by Volvo - Polestar, also looks impressive.

Today, Nissan declares that the new LEAF will cover more than 300 kilometers. But everyone who has tried driving an electric car in city traffic knows what the real range is like. At the Renault stand, ZOE, also known from Polish showrooms, was presented, marked as "Leader in Electric Vehicles in Europe". This time it debuts with a new engine that will improve its performance on expressways.

But let's get back to city traffic. Smart, owned by Mercedes, is building its offer based on electric vehicles. In this case, my attention is drawn to another dynamically developing direction - car sharing. Such electric little ones are perfect for the city, but... I have a personal problem again, because it won't be my car anymore.

No doors and no roof

Currently, traffic jams are a major challenge in city traffic. Standing in them takes too much time, which is why two-wheelers are becoming more and more popular - from mopeds and scooters to light motorcycles. However, bicycles play the dominant role, and electric models are becoming more and more popular here. In fact, they even appear in city rental stores.

What do automotive companies say about this? After all, the history of Peugeot and Skoda (which they also emphasized at their stand in Geneva) began in the XNUMXth century with the production of these two-wheelers. Nowadays, the car logo can be found on the frame of BMW, the Cupra brand debuting in Geneva, or Mercedes (and in the AMG version).

Toyota presented a slightly futuristic vision of urban electromobility. The Concept-i Walk project is a three-wheeled, autonomous vehicle that will take us to our destination after entering the data. Its advantage is its small size, defined by the manufacturer as "per human step", and a variable - depending on the situation - wheel track.

Volkswagen presented a more down-to-earth design. Streetmate is an electric scooter that, after folding the seat, can easily be transformed into a slightly larger scooter. In turn, Cityskater is similar to Toyota's solution. In this case, the designers give us the bonus of being able to change the direction of travel by appropriately shifting the body weight. Just like skiing! What's more, they place this vehicle in the trunk of our car as an alternative means of communication.

In the spirit of its Simpy Clever slogan, Skoda presented the Xtreme Flexibility foldable scooter. Oh yes, for me it seems to be a much simpler means of transport, because the drive is still the muscles of my legs.