Renault-Nissan Alliance CEO Carlos Ghosn is not losing sleep over whatever Apple is up to. He believes Apple’s entry into the Electric Vehicle (EV) segment would only help the cause of zero-emissions vehicles.
Ghosn said he was more excited than worried, and welcomed the idea of having more players vying for a piece of the EV-pie, which would help to promote EV vehicles as well as expand the charging infrastructure.
“I have always looked at other automakers that build EVs as allies, not competitors. We are all promoting a technology that's important for the sustainability of our industry and our planet and the more zero-emission choices our industry offers consumers, the more attention and interest it brings to EVs,” he said at the 10th Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona earlier this month.
Nissan said it has sold over 250,000 EVs since the LEAF went on sale in 2010 – having travelled more than 2.5 billion kilometres since and has kept an estimated 222 billion kilograms of CO2 out of the atmosphere.
Although he said the EV segment remains a small slice of the overall vehicle market, it's growth is steadily increasing.
Ghosn elaborated that the main drivers that will ensure the continued growth of zero-emission vehicle sales are tougher emissions regulations to combat climate change, an expanding charging infrastructure and improving battery technology.
The CEO explained that there are currently 800mil vehicles on the world’s roads and by 2050, it is expected to more than triple to 2.5bil and will not be sustainable in mitigating the impact of climate change with that many fossil fuel-burning engines.
"This is why governments around the world plan to impose tougher emissions restrictions in the coming decade. The only way automakers can meet those restrictions is by selling more EVs, which is why more have joined Renault and Nissan in offering a range of zero-emission vehicles.”
However, the main reason why EVs are not selling as fast as the company would like has been due to the charging infrastructure.
But where the charging infrastructure has expanded, sales followed in that area.
So far, eight countries in Europe have built quick-charge highway corridors, with nine more planning to do so – helping the number of charging stations in Europe to increase by 60% from last year.
"In Japan, the number of public and private chargers already exceeds the number of gasoline service stations,” he added.
With the advancements in battery technology, the main goal is to ensure that EVs eventually have the same range as a conventional car.
"As charging an EV gets easier and faster, more people will see that EVs offer the most practical, affordable and cleanest alternative to cars that run on fossil fuels. So, like you, I'm curious to see what Apple might offer. And I say, welcome!"
