The race towards making battery-powered vehicles has become intense and several of the world's biggest automakers are mulling an electric vehicle. Reasonably so, electric cars are hogging the limelight at the 2016 Paris Motor Show. Here are our top picks from the event.
Mercedes-Benz Generation EQ concept
Amidst 30 Mercedes cars at the show, the most interesting one is the Generation EQ concept. It is a fully electric SUV that will be a part of the carmaker's upcoming new electric car sub-brand called Mercedes-EQ. The production version might take some time to come into inception, but Mercedes has confirmed that it will be built. In fact, they expect electric vehicles to make up as much as 20 per cent of Mercedes's worldwide sales by 2025.
Smart ForTwo Electric Drive
Smart, a division of Mercedes, unveiled the ForTwo Electric Drive at the same press conference. The new hatchback is pitted to be the first convertible electric car and will go on sale in the US by the end of this year. Currently, it is a two-door vehicle, but the company revealed that a four-door model will also make it to the European market.
Volkswagen I.D.
Marred by the diesel emissions scandal, Volkswagen has moved on to unveil a concept car named I.D. When it is launched in 2020, this electric car's cost is expected to be equivalent to a diesel VW Golf. The carmaker highlights the car's driving range to be between 250 to 375 miles, which is considerably more than what conventional electric cars have.
Renault Zoe
The Renault Zoe is not new car to the electric cars segment. But, the French carmaker has a redesigned version of it at their pavilion at the Motor Show. In its latest iteration, the Zoe does 186miles or about 300km in a single charge. Unfortunately, one has to lease out its battery separately for the car that otherwise costs $29,000.
Opel Ampera-e
If the Chevrolet Bolt hasn't caught your attention yet, General Motor's European division Opel has a different version of it. It is called the Ampera-e and will be an affordable plug-in car with a 238miles driving range on a single charge. Though the prices have not been revealed, the car might go into production next year at the same Michigan factory where the Bolt is also manufactured.
