Regardless of how much we love our trusty old internal combustion engines and how much they have powered our lives for the last century or so, their day will soon be coming to an end. That doesn't mean that the combustion engine will be dead, it will live on in many industrial machines and other niche machines, but not as mass-produced passenger vehicles.
The passenger car's internal combustion engine is soon to face the perfect storm in the car market that it will not survive. It will be replaced by what is likely to be a cleaner, greener, safer, cheaper, and more powerful electric car. EVs are developing at an astonishing rate and with car companies the world over proceeding to pour countless billions into developing them that trend is only set to continue or even accelerate. Here are 10 reasons EVs are set to take over the world.
10 Governments Are Banning The Combustion Engine
One of the most obvious reasons is that from Norway to Egypt and China to California, governments all around the world are rushing to ban the sales of new fossil-fueled cars. The earliest date is Norway - with its date set to come into force in just 2025!
Other countries have their bans start to kick into gear from 2030, 2035, 2040, or 2050. If 2050 seems a long way off, countries (such as the UK) have been bringing forward their dates as the technology has developed quicker than anticipated.
9 Government Subsidies
Governments around the world have introduced various tax, rebate,s or other subsidies to entice early buyers into buying these new vehicles. Additionally, various other departments or local governments have played their part like allowing EVs into the High Occupancy Lane or providing EV-only parking.
Government subsidies won't last forever, but they are sure to continue to kick the ball and get it rolling.
8 EVs Save you Money
The upfront cost of the car is constantly falling and once it comes down to parity with normal gasoline and diesel-fueled cars, they can only be cheaper from there. EVs can save you money both in fuel (electricity is cheaper than gasoline) and in repairs and maintenance (EVs have fewer moving parts and fewer breakdowns).
Once it becomes obvious to all that EVs are cheaper, most people will feel confident to put the money where their mouth is and purchase the EV.
7 The Combustion Engine Technology Is Mature
The combustion engine has proven it has little room to improve. While every year incremental improvements have been made on it, fundamentally, combustion engines haven't changed or improved all that much in many years.
Combustion engines are about as good as they will ever get (seriously, car manufactures are now beginning to turn their backs on them and are drying up all future R&D). EVs are yet to fully mature and reach their full potential, and at the moment it seems the sky's the limit.
6 EVs Are Developing And Can Improve Much More
The most expensive EVs can already compete in performance with combustion engines, and they have not met their full potential - not even close. EVs have moved in leaps and bounds in the last 10 years, and they are promising to leap miles forward yet.
There is a raft of different charging technologies and batteries in development and there's no reason to assume they won't be bearing fruit soon. By 2030 EVs will be looking very different.
5 Increased Awareness In Climate Change
Many people around the world are concerned with climate change and want to play their part to help mitigate their carbon footprint. Our car is perhaps our greatest single personal contributor to greenhouse gases and so is the obvious thing we can all change.
And the change as we have seen doesn't have to be expensive or inconvenient. In fact, it may save us money and may eventually land us with higher-performing vehicles.
4 Investment By Car Companies
The investments by car companies from around the world are truly astounding, reaching hundreds of billions of dollars. While much of this money is going into retooling factories or building all new factories, much of it is also going into the R&D of the EVs of the future.
Many car companies, such as Volkswagen, have announced that within five-or-so years they will completely abandon all future investment in diesel and gasoline-powered passenger cars.
3 Exponential Growth In Charging Stations
One of the greatest hurdles to the adoption of EVs is the perceived lack of charging stations. But rest assured this has not gone unnoticed, and the number of charging stations installed around the world is exploding.
Soon we will be seeing traditional gas stations start to close or transition to this new world while we see charging stations spring up around restaurants, shopping centers, and paid parking lots all over the country.
2 Super Quick Charging
The Tesla Model S can supercharge, adding 170 miles of range in just 30 minutes. So already all you need is a pit stop with a coffee break. But even that's not the shape of things to come.
The shape of things to comes is innovations like the Volkswagen-backed QuantumSpace saying that its Lithium-Ion Battery can be charged up to 80% in a blazing 15 minutes. Now that is getting down to the time normally spent at the gas station!
1 Enhanced Health and Safety
EVs aren't just electric, they tend to be heavily computerized and fitted with scores of sensors and other gadgetry. Tesla's cars come with a whole suite of tech safety features that are likely to save many lives over the long term.
Tesla's Model X's computer can take command of the steering, braking, and acceleration in the right circumstances. Augmented driving, autonomous or semi-autonomous driving is also to be the way of the future.
In conclusion, EVs are here, and they are poised ready to take over. It's looking like they will take off in Europe and California in large numbers before the rest of the USA, but the other states are surely only a couple of years behind.