It has been a challenging and often frustrating year for us all and hopefully next year will give us a fresh start, or at least put us on the path to one. The chip shortage has persisted longer than most analysts thought and it may now be the middle of next year before the fabs have caught up with demand. The shortage may have held up a lot of new products, but it hasn’t stopped the innovation in the industry. When the supply chain issues are over, we should see a raft of new products that are better than before - faster, smaller, cheaper and more efficient. I can’t wait to see the difference that they make to our lives.
As we move into 2022, we are another step closer the point that will see us change over from internal combustion engine vehicles (ICE) to electric vehicles (EVs). It looks like Norway will be the first to ban the sale of new ICE vehicles in 2025. Even now the country is well on its way to the crossover, with EVs outselling ICE ones by a huge margin. In October this year, plug-in EVs took almost 90% market share, which is incredible. That 2025 target may just turn into an unremarkable blip as the crossover has already taken place well before. With Norway’s geography and climate being thought to be harsh for EVs, if it can change so easily, any other country should be able to also.
EV’s are just one aspect of transport though. There are many others that are just as important. Here in the UK, Brexit has shown us how much that we rely on HGVs to ship goods in and out of the country. What used to be an almost seamless process, has at least initially, given way to motorway queues and full lorry parks, providing us with a most visible example of the scale of the industry we require to keep us fed and our shops full of goods. Getting rid of ICE vehicles is obviously a good thing, but while we still require hundreds of thousands of diesel fuelled HGVs, the problems with pollution will remain. Fortunately this year we should see the future of transport with the arrival of electric trucks from Tesla and others. We may even see some electric planes. Transport is also the subject of our special focus this month, where we will look at solutions to some of the problems still facing the industry, including communications and propulsion.
As well as the special report, there will also be a selection of technical articles and news and views inside the magazine. I’m sure there will be something for everyone. From myself and everyone else at PSD, I hope you have a lovely break over Christmas and we wish you and yours all the best for 2022!
Best Regards,
Ally winning
European Editor, PSD
