The global market for electric vehicles is rapidly increasing. Since 2020, Europe is leading with registrations of new electric cars, followed by China and the United States. But did you know the first electric cars where built 140 years ago?
While developments on electrical drive trains started around 1820, the first approved electric street vehicle had been released by M. Gustave Trouvé in Paris in 1881, followed by inventions of Werner Siemens, the scientists Wiliam Edwart Ayrton and John Perry and many further inventors in the following decades. In 1900, about 40% of cars were electric, 38% ran on steam and only 22% ran on gasoline. For those who could afford electric cars, they seemed to be the better option, as these were easy to turn on, brake, accelerate, there was no exhaust and drivers didn't have to crank the engine everytime they stopped.
In order to make cars available for everyone, inventors started searching for ways to make cars affordable. With the idea of an assembly line system and the invention of the electric starter, Heny Ford revolutionized the car industry, allowing gasoline cars to be mass-produced for the first time and reducing prices for cars to approximately 250 USD for a gasoline car compared to 1,800 USD for an electric vehicle. As scientists were lacking a cheap answer to find storage batteries of light weight which could operate for long distances without recharging, the trend for electric vehicles suddenly stopped around 1935, as vehicles with combustion engines not only topped e-vehicle's speed and range limits, but were affordable for most people.
Today, around 90 years later, the electric car is back. More and more manufacturers are pledging to go electric, as benefits of electric cars range from energy efficiency over emission reduction to lower maintanance needs. While electric vehicles are complex systems and even further grow in complexity to meet trends related to CASE (connected, autonomous, shared, electric), their components and systems must evolve to work in concert.
The Kautex Pentatonic Battery System answers this challenge. Unlike other heavy and in terms of geometric variablilty limited steel and aluminum battery housings, the Pentatonic Battery System offers a customizable, lightweight solution which can be uitlized in electric vehicles, from full hybrid to full battery.
About Kautex
At Kautex, we are driving the future. As a Tier One automotive supplier with more than 30 plants in 13 countries, Kautex designs, develops and manufactures traditional and hybrid fuel systems, advanced cleaning solutions for assisted and autonomous driving, engine camshafts and plastic industrial packaging solutions. A pioneer in the design and manufacture of automotive plastic fuel systems, Kautex is expanding its portfolio to offer smart products and data-driven services to our customers, including thermoplastic composite and composite-metal hybrid battery systems. From a lightweight battery system to a hybrid fuel system to autonomous drive vehicle cleaning systems, Kautex is committed to pioneering solutions for the era of new mobility.
Our employees are part of a global community committed to solving customer needs, leveraging diverse skillsets, making sustainability a differentiator, embracing the diversity that is part of a global, multi-industry leader and creating an environment where employees can build a dynamic career. Together, we are reimagining the future of mobility.
About Textron Inc.
Textron Inc. is a multi-industry company that leverages its global network of aircraft, defense, industrial and finance businesses to provide customers with innovative solutions and services. Textron is known around the world for its powerful brands such as Bell, Cessna, Beechcraft, Hawker, Jacobsen, Kautex, Lycoming, E-Z-GO, Arctic Cat, and Textron Systems. For more information, visit: www.textron.com
Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements which may project revenues or describe strategies, goals, outlook or other non-historical matters; these statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.
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- Stephanie McClung
- Manager, Content Marketing & Employer Brand
- stephanie.mcclung@kautex.com
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