Renault CEO: ‘EVs remain more expensive than fuel cars’

The transition from fuel cars to electric cars is made even more difficult by the higher price tag attached to electric cars. Renault CEO Luca de Meo also sees this as the biggest stumbling block. According to him, the price tag dictates the pace: “The customer decides whether they only want electric (driving, ed.). I don’t see price equality coming yet,” he signed. Automotive News Europe on. The latter in particular is not very hopeful when it comes to a rapid transition. De Meo expects electric cars to be more expensive than their fuel-driven counterparts for the foreseeable future.

The biggest pain point, according to the Italian, is in raw material prices. They do not exactly help to produce cheaper batteries. “I can come up with a better battery composition and better electronics, but if the price of cobalt doubles in six months, that (advantage, ed.) will be negated again.” De Meo believes that the solution should rather be found in a better charging infrastructure, which largely eliminates the need to hang large batteries in EVs. Then the cars can become cheaper and approach the price of fuel cars sooner. In addition, he sees another disadvantage of larger batteries – apart from the price: “From an environmental point of view, cars with a battery with a 150 kWh or 200 kWh capacity make no sense at all.”

The biggest gain may be achieved with a better charging speed, on top of a better infrastructure, as De Meo points out. If an electric car has a small battery, it can still be used on longer distances if it can be recharged almost anywhere and that also beeps quickly. After all, if you have to load every other hour and then lose a lot of time, you are not there yet.