ABU DHABI // Electric cars will help reduce the carbon emissions that cause climate change, but their widespread use remains at least five to 10 years in the future, industry leaders told the World Future Energy Summit yesterday.
The principle hurdles are the high cost of batteries and consumer reluctance to buy cars that can go only a limited distance before requiring a new charge, said Alan Lloyd, the president of the International Council on Clean Transportation.
How quickly electric cars are adopted by consumers will have important implications for oil exporting countries, because the global transport sector remains the biggest consumer of oil-based fuels. Electricity, by contrast, is produced principally from coal, nuclear and renewable sources.
Mr Lloyd said he learned from a previous attempt to introduce cars in California that the technology will take many years to succeed in the marketplace.
"Things always take much longer than you think," he said. "In terms of stopping oil consumption, I don't think you have to be worried about that."
Hybrid cars, powered by a combination of electricity and petrol, were highlighted at the summit earlier this week when Toyota was awarded the Zayed Future Energy Prize for its Prius model.
Yesterday the focus was on fully electric cars, which will make up 10 per cent of the world vehicle fleet by 2020, predicted Pierre Loing, the vice president for product planning and zero emission at Nissan.
Nissan's first electric car, the Leaf, will launch later this year. The battery, which costs an estimated US$10,000 (Dh37,000), will be leased to consumers, but the car will still initially require government incentives and tax credits in targeted markets to help make the vehicle competitive with conventional vehicles, Mr Loing said.
"We have to compete, from a customer point of view, with an item the internal combustion engine that is highly cost competitive," he said. "We expect within a certain time, probably five to seven years, the electric vehicle with the battery will be able to compete head-to-head with the internal combustion engine."
The electric car's advantage will come in the form of lower fuel costs, since the cost of travelling with electricity is far lower than with petrol. Over its lifetime, the Leaf will cost 10 to 15 per cent less than a vehicle powered by a petrol engine, Mr Loing said.
The problem for the industry is that if the vehicle is sold with its battery, it is far more expensive than the up-front cost of a conventional vehicle, said Jan-Olaf Willums, the chief executive of Think Global, a Scandinavian firm that produces a low-cost electric car.
"Normally the individual doesn't count how much the car really costs," he said. "Normally you buy a car and you don't buy 10 years of fuel the same day."
The first markets targeted by car companies should be customers that own fleets of vehicles, he said, like taxis and car rental agencies.
"Car sharing and car rental concepts are the right way to get people comfortable," he said. "One of the big first owners will be the car sharing companies and the fleet owners because those are the people who understand the full lifetime costs"
Mr Willums disagreed with forecasts that electric cars would take five years to get on the road, noting that with better financing for batteries, the vehicles could already be competitive in some markets where conventional vehicles are costly.
"There are opportunities today if you find the right financing models," he said.
Think Global will lease batteries to consumers and is also developing a market for the batteries after their service life in the car has expired, he said.
But customer perceptions of the limits of electric cars remain a big risk, executives agreed, because they have limited ranges and few options for recharging.
The Nissan Leaf, for instance, has a top range of 160km that falls within the daily distances covered by 80 per cent of drivers, Mr Loing said. But the company has also set up partnerships with more than 30 governments to build commercial recharge stations across cities, he said.
@Email:cstanton@thenational.ae
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How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
- Submit their request
What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
- Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
- Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
- Should have a live feed of the drone flight
- Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
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Stan Wawrinka - knee
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
PREMIER LEAGUE FIXTURES
Saturday (UAE kick-off times)
Watford v Leicester City (3.30pm)
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West Ham v Wolves (8.30pm)
Bournemouth v Crystal Palace (10.45pm)
Sunday
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Monday
Manchester City v Burnley (11pm)
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Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
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Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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- Grade 9 = above an A*
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- Grade 4 = grade C
- Grade 3 = between grades D and E
- Grade 2 = between grades E and F
- Grade 1 = between grades F and G
