The world is slowly converting from gasoline-powered cars to electric cars. At the end of 2018, only 0.4% of the world’s cars were electric; by 2031, electric plug-in cars are expected to be 13% of the world’s vehicle fleet (with Europe and China closer to 20%). In 2019, there was an estimated 3.2 million electric vehicle in the world; by 2030, there will be an estimated 26.9 million electric vehicles. While the automobile industry is expected to grow at below 3% annually, the electric vehicle market is expected to grow at over 20% annually for the rest of the decade.
Tesla, BMW, Volkswagen, Nissan, and BYD (China) are leading the way with new products, vigorous adoption strategies, and collaborative partnerships. Consumers are warming up to electric car as more models become available, vehicle ranges lengthen, charging times shorten, and charging stations proliferate. As the decade progresses, batteries are expected to become cheaper and vehicles more affordable, further increasing their popularity.
Nowhere is this shift more prevalent than in China. Since 2011, annual sales of light-duty plug-in electric vehicles have grown faster there than in any other nation.
Part of this growth comes from vehicle fleets, particularly metro buses, that have been converted to electricity. China and India have led the growth of the commercial electric market.
This conversion to electric-cars is primarily environmentally driven. People are becoming more aware of the consequences of greenhouse gases and the need to reduce the carbon footprint. Governments are rewarding electric vehicle owners with generous subsidies, grants, tax discounts and rebates, access to carpool lanes, and easier car registration. (In China, some locales do not even offer gasoline vehicle registrations.) Indeed, electric cars are driving us into a post-fossil fuel world.
References:
“Electric Vehicle Market Report,” Allied Market Research, April 2020, retrieved from https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/reports-store?page=1&search=electric%20vehicle
“Electric Vehicle Market Growth,” Markets and Markets, March 2020, retrieved from https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/electric-vehicle-market-209371461.html?gclid=CjwKCAjwnIr1BRAWEiwA6GpwNWH0QZdtgcyuYhH24JqUYAO2OOlIK7gOk2gOr8mnzQcKZfGVjN0g6BoCAR8QAvD_BwE
“Automotive Industry Outlook,” IHS Markit, February 2019, retrieve from https://ihsmarkit.com/search/results.html?search=automotive+industry+outlook
Wikipedia, s.v., “Electric car use by country,” 2 April 2020, retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_car_use_by_country
Faiz Siddiqui, “Some cringe as Tesla floats fully self-driving cars,” Washington Post, 21 July 2019, G1; also available at https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/07/17/tesla-floats-fully-self-driving-cars-soon-this-year-many-are-worried-about-what-that-will-unleash/
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
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