No one can deny that something big is happening to the automotive industry.
Take a look at Tesla, which has a permanent spotlight on its all-electric cars. From its flagship Model S luxury car, to locking in ~400,000 pre-orders within weeks of unveiling its much more affordable Model 3 for the masses, Tesla is taking on automotive giants that have been around for decades. According to Bloomberg Finance, Tesla’s market cap just surpassed General Motors by $2 billion.
Tesla Model 3
The underlying message surrounding this race is crucial: the transition toward sustainable transportation is happening, and it is happening now.
Most recent estimates show that, by 2019, the global market for EVs will grow to over $227 billion dollars. By 2022, it is estimated that they will cost the same as their internal-combustion counterparts up front (and be cheaper operationally). That’s the point of liftoff for sales and only the beginning. It is estimated that electric vehicles will account for 35% of all new vehicle sales by 2040, expressed in the chart below.
To better understand where the sudden acceleration in all-electric vehicles came from, let’s take a look at the surge in car demand. For every 1,000 people in the United States, there are 1,000 cars. Even with this 1:1 ratio, the USA’s 239.8 million units continue to be the largest vehicle population in the world.
With this, the EPA says that,
“transportation remains the largest single source of air pollution in the United States.”
Moving abroad, the automotive market started seeing rapid car demand in 2010. China’s vehicle registrations jumped by 27.5% and India’s by 8.9%. Looking at the growth potential in these developing countries and comparing them to the US, it has reached a point where it just isn’t feasible to work outside of global emission standards to meet this demand.
The rest of the world seems to be in agreement. Ten of the largest countries are establishing policies that promote better fuel economy and greenhouse gas emission standards for passenger vehicles, including Japan, the European Union, the United States, Canada, China, South Korea, Mexico, Brazil, India, and Germany.
So, great, the move toward all-electric vehicles is the way to a cleaner future.
Read more: Clean Technica