Have you ever driven an electric car? If not, you might want to start thinking about it. We are in the middle of the biggest revolution in motoring since Henry Ford’s first production line started turning back in 1913. And it is likely to happen much more quickly than you imagine1.
Many industry observers believe we have already passed the tipping point where sales of electric vehicles (EVs) will very rapidly overwhelm petrol and diesel cars. It’s what the world’s big car makers think too. Jaguar plans to sell only electric cars from 2025, Volvo from 2030 and Lotus from 2028.
Many industry observers believe we have already passed the tipping point where sales of electric vehicles (EVs) will very rapidly overwhelm petrol and diesel cars. It’s what the world’s big car makers think too. Jaguar plans to sell only electric cars from 2025, Volvo from 2030 and Lotus from 2028. General Motors says it will make only electric vehicles by 2035, Ford says all vehicles sold in Europe will be electric by 2030 and VW says 70% of its sales will be electric by 20301.
This isn’t just a passing trend or greenwashing. Governments around the world are setting targets to ban the sale of petrol and diesel vehicles, which gives impetus to the process. But what makes the end of the internal combustion engine inevitable is a technological revolution1.
Think about it like this: The EV market is about where the internet was around the late 1990s or early 2000s. Back then, there was a big buzz about this new thing with computers talking to each other. Jeff Bezos had set up Amazon, and Google was beginning to take over from the likes of Altavista, Ask Jeeves and Yahoo. Some of the companies involved had racked up eye-popping valuations1.
For those who hadn’t yet logged on it all seemed exciting and interesting but irrelevant – how useful could communicating by computer be? After all, we’ve got phones! But the internet, like all successful new technologies, did not follow a linear path to world domination. It didn’t gradually evolve, giving us all time to plan ahead. Its growth was explosive and disruptive, crushing existing businesses and changing the way we do almost everything1.
The growth in electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) is climbing and by 2025, EVs and HEVs will account for an estimated 30% of all vehicle sales2.
The electric vehicle landscape is rapidly changing as both technology and interest evolve, and the coming years will see many more EVs take to the roads, seas, and skies. By 2035, the largest automotive markets will be fully electric—providing both a glimpse of a green future and significant economic opportunity3.
In conclusion, get ready for an electrifying future! With major car manufacturers switching to electric-only production and governments setting targets to ban petrol and diesel vehicles, it’s clear that electric cars are here to stay.
References
1: Driving into 2025: The Future of Electric Vehicles | J.P. Morgan (n.d.): [online] https://www.jpmorgan.com/insights/research/electric-vehicles.
2: How electric vehicles will shape the future (2022): McKinsey & Company, [online] https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/themes/how-electric-vehicles-will-shape-the-future.
3: Rowlatt, By Justin (2021): Why electric cars will take over sooner than you think, in: BBC News, 01.06.2021, [online] https://www.bbc.com/news/business-57253947.