Electric vehicles (EVs) are have been rising in popularity in recent years. With rising awareness of climate change and the spread of sustainable living, EVs can help us protect the planet. In 2020, global EV sales increased by 43%. Also, 4.2% of new cars were electric in the US.
However, a major barrier to mass adoption is upfront cost. This is clear from a RAC poll of 3,000 drivers in the UK, where 78% said EVs are still too pricey. Only 9% said they would buy an electric car. On average, in 2020, an EV costs $54,668, which is 47% higher than the market average.
One promising trend is the rapidly decreasing cost of vehicle batteries. These numbers went from $1,160 in 2010 to $156 in 2019 Battery performance is also improving, with only an average of 10% degradation per 160K miles for Tesla drivers. Additionally, there are new batteries on the market which can run for 200 miles after 5 minutes of charging.
In countries such as Norway, EVs are already less costly thanks to tax breaks and a 90% discount on road tax. 54% of cars on their car market were electric in 2020, which is far higher than the <5% share in most other European countries. EVs also cost around 0.3% less than gas cars on average in Norway. In the UK, where EVs were 1.3% more expensive, their share of the market was only 1.6%.
While cost and battery performance are important, we will need more infrastructure for EVs if we want them to be the norm. With predictions that more than 50% of new car sales will be for EVs by 2040, drivers will need 290 million charging points. This would cost about $500 billion globally.
References:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jan/19/global-sales-of-electric-cars-accelerate-fast-in-2020-despite-covid-pandemic
https://www.mitsubishi-motors.ca/en/electrification/ev-costs
https://www.myeva.org/blog/monthly-myth-your-battery-must-be-replaced-in-5-to-10-years
https://www.weforum.org/stories/2021/01/electric-vehicles-breakthrough-tesla-china/
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jan/22/electric-vehicles-close-to-tipping-point-of-mass-adoption
https://www.weforum.org/stories/2020/09/heres-how-electric-vehicles-can-keep-us-on-the-road-to-paris/
