Decades ago, many suggested that by 2012 the world would be well into the electric, self- driving, and flying car phase. We aren’t quite there yet but the industry is rising, and the noise is loud!
Electric and self-driving vehicle manufacturers are drooling over the positive impacts that the segment will have on the world. Not only are EV’s and self-driving vehicles better for the environment, but they also drastically lower oil and maintenance costs. Along with this, what is considered to be most important, autonomous vehicles have the potential to completely eliminate human driving errors that cause some 90% of all vehicle accidents (according to a 2013 study conducted by Stanford).
Resulting from the hype, electric and autonomous vehicle registrations are up 55 percent worldwide and the total number of electric vehicles also rose to approximately 3+ million cars, up from 2 million previously. The China vehicle market leads the way with 1.2 million EV’s on the road, followed by the US with 750,000 (These numbers were found in a recent survey conducted by the Centre for Solar Energy).
It’s easy to see these statistics and think that we are witnessing an EV and autonomous “takeover”, especially considering all of the news and hype surrounding the industry but not so fast! Taking into account that there are approximately 260+ million vehicles registered in the US, EV sales are still quite low at only about 1 million, which is not even 1 percent of the total.
According to Bloomberg, this will change drastically by 2040, as 54 percent of all new vehicle sales are expected to EV. If this information proves to be true, and the growth continues at the current rate, we are still decades away before EVs amount to majority of the vehicles on the road. Yes, the sector is positioned for enormous growth, but there are many factors that have slowed the worldwide adoption of electric and self- driving cars.
The first, small, factor that didn’t allow the sector to get going sooner rather than later were the regulations. People feared cars being able to drive themselves with no assistance, although human error causes 90+ percent of accidents. People want control, but because of the millions of miles worth of testing, people are very close to feeling that as the technology continues to advance. Electric and self-driving vehicles are one of those things that has to be almost perfect to even launch, let alone gain worldwide adoption.
Contributing to these safety hazards, the batteries that power these vehicles have been a major issue and concern over the years. Not only have they resulted in many vehicles catching fire because of faulty batteries, but the charging and driving capabilities have yet to meet expectations. The technology is here, but it has yet to be fully figured out. I personally know multiple people who won’t yet settle for a Tesla or electrical vehicle because of the battery ranges. Constant travelers have problems with the time that the batteries take gain a full charge, along with the distance that they are able to drive without having to find another charging station.
Problems such as these are reasons that companies such as Tesla are just recently taking huge strides. Tesla launched 15 years back, in 2003, and not until 2012 did they launch their flagship vehicle, the Tesla Model S, and started toward mass production. Yes they launched the (first) Tesla Roadster in 2008, but only selling 2,500 isn’t enough to make any noise during this day and time.
Concluding, many industries can almost disregard the alarming and many false reports that claim the EV and autonomous takeover is here. Oil, gas, mechanics, and even independent auto shops will be in high demand for decades to come. Yes the takeover is coming, but there is still a lot of time to get prepared or even contribute to the greatness thats coming!
