With the total sum of the earth’s known resources only expected to last another 50 years, the race is on to develop vehicles that run on alternative forms of energy and reduce the world’s reliance on oil and other dwindling natural resources. “Electric vehicle makers are already stepping up to the plate,” writes Dmitry Korolev in Electric Vehicles: When Will EVs Take Over?
“EVs are projected to be as cheap as gasoline or diesel vehicles by the year 2025,” Korolev points out. “After that point, EV sales are expected to skyrocket.” And as prices for electric vehicles continue to fall, sales of those vehicles will increase exponentially.
Overtaking Fossil Fuel-Dependent Cars
According to TopAutoTools, electric vehicles will overtake those running on fossil fuels well before current oil reserves have been all used up. In the U.S., for example, electric vehicle sales have skyrocketed by over 750% in the last four years alone. “This dramatic increase in sales is expected to multiply as the years pass until eventually electric vehicles sell more than traditional vehicles,” TopAutoTools reports.
Adoption of EVs is growing outside of the U.S. In India, for example, use of electric cars has been incentivized under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME) act. In August, state-owned Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL) invited global bids for 10,000 electric sedans that will run up to 150 kilometers (93 miles) on a single charge, for use by government departments.
And in Europe, both Britain and France are working to ban new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2040 to improve air quality, amid concerns about the health risks of rising levels of nitrogen oxide as well as global warming. And electric carmaker Tesla plans to commit most of its $3 billion cash pile and raise another $1.5 billion by issuing bonds to fund the production of its latest mass-market model.
More companies are jumping into the EV fray, and not all of them auto manufacturers by nature. JSW Energy, for example, is diversifying into electric car manufacturing and aims to roll out its first electric vehicle by 2020. The Mumbai-headquartered group will manufacture electric vehicles, electrical batteries, and energy storage systems and charging infrastructure.
The Commercial Front
Activity on the electric vehicle front isn’t limited to passenger cars. Miami-based Ryder System, Inc., just inked a deal with Chanje of Los Angeles to be the electric-truck maker’s exclusive sales and service partner. “We believe electric vehicles will play a major role in the future of commercial transportation,” says Dennis Cooke, president of global fleet management at Ryder, one of the nation’s largest medium-duty truck fleet management companies. The firm will buy trucks from Chanje, then lease and service them through its network.
Expect the push to electric vehicles to continue over the next few years, and to gain ground as more drivers warm up to the idea of owning and driving an automobile that’s not dependent on fossil fuels.
“The fact that a shift to all-electric powered vehicles is inevitable and must happen at some point this century which should give us plenty of time to prepare, but billion dollar corporations who depend on the sale of oil might not cooperate as much as green energy enthusiasts would like them to,” TopAutoTools reports. “Nonetheless, the shift to electric powered transportation is coming and there’s nothing anyone can do to stop it.”
