When will electric cars be trendy?
As the world’s automakers place larger bets on electric vehicle technology, many industry analysts are debating a key question: How quickly can plug-in cars become mainstream?
One of the most expensive parts of an electric car is its battery.
So when car companies are able to make batteries cheap enough to put electric vehicles (EV) on par cost-wise with gas ones, they’ll finally have a chance to mainstream.
Researchers estimate that once EV batteries cost $150 per kilowatt hour (kWh), they’ll be cost-competitive with gas vehicles.
According to The New York Times, a new report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance, a research group, suggests that the price of plug-in cars is falling much faster than expected, spurred by cheaper batteries and aggressive policies promoting zero-emission vehicles in China and Europe.
Between 2025 and 2030, the group predicts, plug-in vehicles will become cost competitive with traditional petroleum-powered cars, even without subsidies and even before taking fuel savings into account. Once that happens, mass adoption should quickly follow.
However, it seems to be that until the price of electric vehicles comes down, people will be reluctant to buy them, since most are unwilling to pay a premium for green technology. People are driven to buy a car, he says, to get from one place to another. Still, there is guardedly optimistic feeling about the industry as more manufacturers offer electric vehicles, including some high-performance models.