The trend in our world is that everything should become greener. Some people frown and cuss when hearing such trends, but the truth is that we as a species are wasting so much energy and polluting the environment while doing so. Oil spills and plastic are enough to condemn our planet for a couple of decades.
The car industry is one of the biggest polluters in the world. Most of the cars made today have an internal combustion engine or a variant of it is hybrid cars. Every manufacturer has an electric car ready, but only one or a couple of models, per company. Electric cars save a lot of energy anTeslad reduce carbon emissions. Will they one day take over the auto industry? Let us explore the possibility.
Electric Cars Need Infrastructure Change
In order for electric cars to be functionally available in every country, countries would need to change their infrastructure. You would need to have charging stations available everywhere, at almost all gas stations, and in various areas throughout larger cities. Some remote locations would have to have charging stations, and that gets difficult under winter conditions, specifically on mountains.
Changing a country’s infrastructure, or rather, adapting it for new technologies that most people cannot purchase, takes a lot of time and money. Not all countries are prepared to invest in such a thing if they cannot make a profit out of it.
Electric Cars Need Mindset Changes
Almost no gear head will buy a Toyota Prius and be proud of themselves. Many would prefer a 5 liter V8 with two turbos, if possible. Tesla cars also come into consideration, they are ridiculously fast and have lots of torque.
Yet, for the average petrolhead, electric cars are not good enough. They don’t make noise, they need to be recharged, you need to wait and for most people, they do not feel right. There is something missing, which petrol heads do not want to live without.
Until this mindset adapts to a degree, electric cars will unlikely be taking over.
Government Incentives to Buy Electric Cars
Some governments do incentivize their citizens to purchase electric cars. This works by removing VAT for a purchase or straight up removing a couple of thousand euros, dollars or whichever currency is valid in that country, from the purchase. Other incentives are no or reduced ownership tax, which is pretty important in some countries. This is applied to both personal vehicles, as well as company vehicles. If more governments keep incentivizing citizens, more electric cars will be purchased.
Emission Taxes Lead to Electric Cars
Every car company struggles with emissions unless they are Toyota or Tesla, or other companies that produce multiple hybrid and electric cars. Emissions need to be kept at their lowest, or companies will pay huge taxes at the end of each year. This naturally leads to electric cars. Every company has one, including companies known for their sports cars, like Porsche.
Conclusion and Summary
Not everything is as it seems when it comes to electric cars taking over the auto industry. It seems like the logical choice, but a century and more of internal combustion engine usage are being battled, both in factories and in the minds of people, and on the roads.
In time, there will certainly be more electric cars as opposed to cars which run on petrol or diesel, but unlikely in the next 50 years.
