Electric motors ‘will see major change to family cars’…and some won’t like it

THE move to electric vehicles could lead to a major change to family vehicles, experts say.

Currently, the trend is to drive bigger cars and this could be reversed but some motorists won’t like the change.

2

Electric cars don’t need bulky internal combustion engines which could reduce their overall size, industry experts have said.

Peugeot’s head of concept cars and brands Philipe Emanuel-Jean thinks family cars could decrease in size as EV batteries become smaller.

He told design magazine Dezeen at the launch of Peugeot’s Inception Concept car the removal of the engine could mean an electric car has the same amount of interior space as a larger vehicle, while reducing the size of the car’s outer body.

Peugeot senior vice-president Jéróme Micheron told The Sunday Telegraph: “In general, the architecture of electric cars optimises the interior space for the given exterior size of the vehicle, such as the distribution of the car’s proportions between the engine/motor compartment, the passenger space, and the luggage space.”

However, he warned that reducing car size would also prove to be a challenge as EV batteries needed to offer capacity and range while also being affordable.

That’s been echoed by other industry experts, such as Professor David Bailey from the Birmingham Business School.

He said: “There is scope for downsizing SUVs given that this segment has driven a recent growth in car size.

“There isn’t the need to accommodate a bulky internal combustion engine and space can be configured for maximum effect, with the possibility to decrease the overall size of the car.”

This may not go down well with some drivers though as the trend in recent years has been for bigger cars.

Research carried out by Zuto Car Finance in 2019 revealed that many car brands had significantly increased the size of their vehicles since they were launched, with some growing by more than 60 per cent.

The world’s best-selling sports car, the Ford Mustang, was one of the largest growers with the vehicle now 63 per cent larger than when it was first produced in 1964.

Today’s Mini is 61 per cent bigger than its original version.

The increase has mostly been driven by the need to include safety features, such as airbags and front and rear, as well as side, impact structures.

As EV batteries are stored in the front of the car, this has meant shorter overhangs at the front and more space inside.

Maximilian Missoni, head of design at electric car company Polestar told Wired magazine: “The size and position of electric motors allow for shorter overhangs, more compact front volumes and more interior space.”

Prof Andrew Graves from the University of Bath, a car industry veteran, said smaller cars had huge benefits in terms of parking, fuel economy and handling but remained doubtful car sizes would shrink any time soon.

He said the current fashion among consumers, especially for families, was for bigger SUVs.

2