Are Electric Vehicles The Future?

After over 100 years of the traditional motor car, you might find it hard to envisage a world where the roads are littered with electric vehicles (“EVs”) instead.

But is that what’s going to happen?

photo of a woman plugging charger into her electric car to charge it

That is the focus of this article, explaining whether electric cars are the future and why this might be, including a potential time frame before gas powered vehicles are considered a thing of the past.

Why Do We Want Electric Cars To Be The Future?

Gasoline and diesel powered vehicles are incredibly bad for the environment. The fuel causes a range of harmful and toxic byproducts to be emitted.

This includes the likes of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, benzene, hydrocarbons, and formaldehyde.

A typical passenger vehicle emits about 4.6 metric tons of carbon dioxide (alone) per year.

While the total amount of greenhouse gases poured into the atmosphere from all gas cars comes in at a whopping 1.6 billion tons.

And in 2020, emissions from transportation were the largest contributor of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for a whopping 27% of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.

Thus, gas cars are a major contributor to both global warming and climate change.

And as we all know, the planet is in a critical stage when it comes to these matters, and it is only through the power of everyone’s individual contribution that we will be able to turn this all around.

The question is, what impact will the switch over to electric vehicles have on global warming and climate change?

One thing here is clear – electric vehicles emit less carbon dioxide than their gasoline counterparts.

And with gasoline vehicles attributing almost a third of the world’s greenhouse gas problems, switching to electric vehicles is very much an important first step in the right direction.

And the sooner we can do it, the better.

Are Electric Vehicles Really Going To Take Over? Will Gas Vehicles Go Away?

The production and sales of gas powered vehicles is already being phased out in countries around the world.

Hybrid and electric vehicles, despite their rather modest beginnings, are becoming increasingly popular the world over.

And although the switchover may not be close yet, it is clear that it’s in the pipeline.

And you can bet that as production and sales diminish, you can bet that the surrounding services for gas powered vehicles will also diminish.

There will be less need for gas stations when the roads are filled with electric vehicles, and garages will train their staff for maintaining and repairing electric vehicles over conventional ones.

As the trend for electric vehicles continues, gas vehicles will eventually become obsolete.

Government efforts the world over will increasingly transition from merely providing incentives for electric vehicles to banning the sales of gas powered vehicles altogether.

Why EVs May Not Be The Future?

photo of a car being charged in a city charging point on the street

There are those out there who try to claim that electric vehicles are not the future.

And I’ll be the first to admit that they do make a good point when they say that electric vehicles can have a negative impact on the environment.

When an EV is made, producing the battery involves carbon dioxide emissions.

So even though this comes to far less than the carbon dioxide emitted from a gas powered vehicle over the course of its lifetime, there is a danger to the environment every time an EV is manufactured.

What’s more, the battery will not last forever and will have to be replaced.

But to be honest, there is no way that this nugget of information is going to slow down the future of electric vehicles on the road.

Even if there was a large cultural move made towards public transportation, people will always want to be able to get to wherever they want on their own terms.

Cars are not going to go out of fashion.

And with the environment being an important consideration for people when it comes to choosing a vehicle, then the switch to electric vehicles is certainly going ahead.

And at the rate at which more affordable electric vehicles are being made, this could be sooner rather than later.

Time Frame For EVs Taking Over The Road

It may be hard to predict a time frame for EVs taking over the road across the globe because different governments will take different positions on the matter, but predictions are being made about this time frame in the US.

An ambitious goal was set by President Joe Biden – that 50% of new car sales will be for either electric, fuel cell, or hybrids by the year 2030.

The so called “50-State Emissions” states, led by California, have set an even more ambitious target of stopping the sale of all new gas-powered cars by the year 2035.

These states combined represent approximately one third of the US population and auto making capacity, so this goal should be taken seriously.

Read my in-depth article on the topic of the 2035 target to end gas-car sales in the 50-State Emissions states.

And if, as intended, this goal is reached, this would mean that by the year 2050, electric vehicles would make up between 60 and 70 percent of all cars on the road.

But the question is whether this will be achieved. At the moment, consumers are still somewhat hesitant to meet the transition.

Predominantly due to the high initial cost and lack of sufficient charging infrastructure. But these things are set to change.

Take the problem of the initial cost, for example. Sure, the average price of an electric vehicle is still way higher than that of your average gas powered car.

But, as I discuss in some of my other articles on the website, if you’re savvy about what dealership you buy from, it is possible to actually pick up an EV for less than the average price of a conventional car.

But there’s a lot of discrepancy in the models predicting the time frame for EVs taking over, due to the various factors involved affecting the price of EVs and the acceleration of producing a worthwhile charging infrastructure.

So who’s to know what the real time frame will be.

Wrap Up

Despite arguments against take over by electric vehicles, it is clear that electric vehicles are the future for America’s roads and beyond.

Jonathan Rice

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