It seems like most major car retailers are jumping into the electric vehicle game.

Let’s talk about one of our favourite things: cars. And more specifically, how the internal combustion engine is on the verge of extinction.

Not only that, but we’re also being told that in five years we’re going to be driving self-driving cars. OK, that’s not accurate. They will be driving us — or at least a lot of us.

Unless you were at the beach and had your head buried in the sand because of worries about Russia’s determination to wipe out democracy on the planet, you undoubtedly heard that Volvo will stop making cars that run solely on gasoline.

Volvo announced that starting in 2019 all new models it introduces will be either hybrids or vehicles powered solely by batteries. While the new electric cars will initially be made in China, where air pollution is critically dangerous, a new plant is being built near Charleston, S.C., and some will be built in Europe.

Tesla, the posh electric car maker, plans to sell hundreds of thousands of new electric models priced at “only” $35,000, which is substantially less expensive than most of the flashy vehicles it currently sells. The new cars will be serviced at 250 centers that don’t charge service fees! If you live too far from a service center, Tesla will send one of its 350 special vans to your home or office to repair your vehicle on site! The vans will have toys for children, espresso machines and, you won’t believe this, replacement parts. I know. I know. Except for the sticker shock, it seems like heaven.

Tesla, which makes nowhere near the number of cars that Ford and General Motors produce, earlier this year beat the two auto behemoths in stock market value because investors think the future is in electric vehicles. Part of this is urban congestion and part of it is climate change — carbon dioxide from burning gasoline depletes the ozone layer, playing havoc with climate patterns around the globe.

Read more: GOVTECH