Future of Electric Cars in Limousine Hire Business
When it comes to travelling in style and thorough comfort in any city, nothing can beat a limousine. However, the most glaring downside of hiring a limousine is the prohibitive cost or expense which most ordinary folks cannot afford. Nevertheless, the emergence of luxury models of electric cars, for instance, the Tesla’s executive model has fostered the expectations of the same being used as a rental limo preferably at lesser rates compared to the conventional models.
The electric car since the time it was first innovated and developed has evolved a lot over the years. Electric cars offer some distinct advantages over the traditional vehicles using four-stroke engines and running on gasoline. For instance, an electric car as its terminology clearly suggests is powered by electricity whose consumption works out cheaper than using fossil fuels or non-conventional fuels. Secondly, since there is no emission involved, an electric car is extremely environmental-friendly. But issues like recharging, unavailability of spare parts, and lack of servicing infrastructure act as deterrents, thereby keeping limousine service in Singapore from including the same in its fleet of luxury vehicles.
1. Charging or Re-Charging
Needless to say, the electric car, unlike a Rolls-Royce limousine, doesn’t run on petrol or diesel but on electricity. The electricity driving the vehicle is stored in batteries that need to be recharged periodically. Anybody renting an electric limo for an extended time-period runs the risk of getting stranded midway during a wedding or birthday event if the battery charge drops abysmally. The battery or batteries installed in the current models of electric cars need to be recharged several times in a day to keep the vehicles operable. So an electric limo remains unavailable for the entire period it’s being recharged which comes in the way of hiring the same as a luxury vehicle.
2. Availability of spare parts
Theoretically speaking, the electric vehicle has been touted as a supercar that not only travels or accelerates at high speeds that are comparable to conventional automobiles but also experience lesser mechanical issues. The electric model also has fewer components having the possibility of malfunctioning.
However, in the rare event of any component becoming dysfunctional, the vehicle may have to remain off-road until and unless that malfunctioning part is either repaired or replaced. The service provider may have to wait for weeks for the spare part to arrive from abroad, since the same may not be readily available in the home country. For the start, most of the limousine services in Singapore or even other vehicle rental types like a maxicab or minibuses may not be in a position or ill-afford to keep a luxury vehicle out of service for such a long time period.
3. Lack of infrastructure
Since electric cars are yet to become as ubiquitous as traditional vehicles having internal combustion engines, it follows that garages or service centers that can handle servicing of the former are very limited. Additionally, car mechanics that can repair or service such a vehicle are also few and not instantly available.
The upshot is that electric cars as of now cannot be extensively used as limousines till the technology on which they run evolves considerably enough for the same to be hired as regular luxury autos. We hope to see that happen soon though and we may even see larger vehicle types that can be part of our rental services like our bus charter services!
