Whilst reading GreenBeat the other day, I came across an article related to electric cars and hybrid vehicles and how a report in another American publication had, in the author's eyes, missed several points.
What struck me reading the article is that amongst the industry news of who's producing what models and when they'll be available to buy etc, compared against the production hurdles of bringing a new vehicle to market (on average 5 years), was a lot of detail about current buying habits, that could address many of the concerns surrounding alternatively fuelled cars.
As the commentator points out, the issue of range and the necessity of being able to 'just go' rather than waiting for a vehicle to charge e.g a midnight dash to the hospital, which puts many people off buying hybrid or electric vehicles is really mute.
He goes on to explain that when you look at the general car habits of families, they very often have two (or more cars) and whilst it would make perfect sense to make one of those an electric vehicle, logistics alone would probably still make the other vehicle purchase a traditional fuel burning one.
He argues that families will plan their outings with regards to what vehicle they use with the same consideration as they do now - number of seats, terrain, distance etc.
And when you look at the sheer numbers of vehicles presently on the roads, then even a 1% shift to hybrid or electric powered cars makes a huge difference, and one that will only increase.
Producers are currently talking about a 2% of global sales being hybrid/electric cars by 2020 - that's still 2 million vehicles and some analysts are predicting a 10% uptake / shift once the world loses the "baggage" of the hybrid "label".
It's certainly thought provoking stuff and filled me with enormous hope. You can read the full article here.
photo credit: treehugger
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