Electric cars are hot, yet their global market penetration remains less than 0.5% of all vehicles. Research points the way to key questions to ask when building new markets.
Chinese electric vehicle sales already amount to more than half of the world’s total – and car makers and battery manufacturers are working hard to grow even faster.
A traffic jam on a busy highway near Vancouver, B.C.
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Only a small share of the vehicles Americans buy are electric. Even if all of them were, it would take until 2040 to phase out the fossil fuels used to power personal travel and road-bound freight.
Multiple forms of electric aircraft are being developed rapidly.
MagniX
Some countries have already committed to using electric aircraft on domestic routes. These aircraft could slash costs and emissions on some of Australia’s busiest flight routes.
Electric vehicles and renewable energy must mine more responsibly.
Ioanac/Shutterstock
More electric vehicles and renewable energy means more mining for resources. Unless industry adopts cleaner habits urgently, the environment faces more damage.
There are plenty of economic reasons to change our gas-guzzling habits.
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The transport sector is the fastest growing contributor of greenhouse gases. Electric vehicles are a cost-effective solution.
The exploding popularity of e-scooters could reshape mobility in our cities. Regulators need to adapt their approaches to handle the innovation rather than ban it altogether.
Ivan Marc/Shutterstock
The exploding popularity of e-scooters has the potential to reshape transport in our cities. Regulators need to adapt their approaches to handle the new mobility service rather than ban it altogether.
Opposition leader Bill Shorten has announced his plan to reduce carbon emissions.
AAP Image/Mick Tsikas
Labor’s ambitious plans to reduce transport emissions will be dead in the water without regulatory CO2 emission standards and real financial and non-financial incentives for buyers.
A Renault Zoe charging. It’s currently one of the top-selling plug-in electric vehicles in Europe, but what would happen if subsidies dried up?
Werner Hillebrand-Hansen/Wikipedia
Electric vehicles are taking off, but will demand remain sustainable once governments phase out subsidies? And as the “hidden costs” of the EV revolution emerge, some might get left behind…
A new plug-in electric truck is in development, along with an electric SUV.
Richard Truesdell/Wikimedia Commons
Researchers have found a way to evaluate how energy-efficient electric vehicles are, and compare the sizes and costs of batteries for different models.
Assembling capacitors for electric automobiles at SBE, Inc. in Barre, Vermont, July 16, 2010. SBE received a $9 million stimulus grant to build electric drive components.
AP Photo/Toby Talbot
It’s unclear exactly what mix of technologies will drive the zero-emission vehicles of the future. But in terms of ‘well-to-wheel’ efficiency, electric batteries outperform hydrogen.
Building an electric airplane is very different from building an electric car or truck.
Venkat Viswanathan
The battery technology and cooling systems needed for electric aircraft to lift people and cargo are getting closer to reality, but they’re still very different from electric cars and trucks.