ASSESSMENTS

The Automotive Market Switches Gears

Sep 15, 2017 | 12:22 GMT

Governments and automakers are charting the transition from gasoline- and diesel-powered vehicles to electric ones, though it will be decades before all fuel pumps go the way of the dinosaur.

(Getty Images)

Highlights

The bans on fossil fuel-powered vehicles that France and the United Kingdom recently announced, along with evolving government policies in China, will likely accelerate the rise of electric vehicles.
To meet the intended target dates for their transitions, the countries will need to invest considerably in infrastructure to build more charging stations and increase the capacity of their electrical grids and improve transmission lines, or simply use existing capacity more efficiently.
Trends in the Chinese market will influence the behavior of domestic and international electric car producers hoping to tap into China's large, and growing, consumer base.

Over the past several decades, numerous technologies have emerged that could rival and eventually replace the internal combustion engine and, with it, oil. Though vehicles powered by natural gas or hydrogen are gaining ground, particularly in Asia, electric vehicles -- both hybrid and fully battery-powered models -- are poised to give gasoline- and diesel-fueled vehicles the biggest run for their money. Falling costs and rising energy density stand to level the playing field between electric cars and their more traditional counterparts. By 2040, researchers project that fully electric vehicles and hybrids will account for more than half of all new automobiles purchased worldwide. Government initiatives will be crucial to incentivize and facilitate the adoption of electric vehicles, and countries such as France, the United Kingdom and China are doing their part to kick-start the transition....

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