Can the addition of more electric vehicles to the grid actually lower utility bills for all consumers? A recent study demonstrated just that, showing that electric vehicle customers are not being subsidized by other customers and, in fact, they are putting downward pressure on rates.
The telephone should have been an instant hit. It revolutionized human communication overnight, and yet it took decades to catch on. AT&T president Theodore Vail blamed meager sales on public ignorance. No one knew how to use the phone, he said.
Electric vehicle naysayers often seem to visualize technological change proceeding at a slow and stately pace, ignoring the accelerating trends that are driving EV adoption. But as any mathematician will tell you, exponential growth is a powerful thing, and there are several reasons to believe that electrification is nearing the upward curve in the proverbial hockey stick.
In this week’s Titillating Tesla Chat episode, Tomek, Jacek, and I talked sales, sales, sales. As much as we report about it and as much as it has been long planned and projected, it is mind-blowing that Tesla has gone from essentially no sales a decade ago to production and sale of approximately 20,000 cars a month today.
Apart from everybody giving up eating meat, everyone ditching their diesel and petrol cars to drive a shiny new electric vehicle is the best contribution we can make to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The ideal, therefore, is for it to be as easy as possible for everyone to get their hands on an electric vehicle, but what are the bridges and roadblocks on the road to making that a reality?
I drive in one of the best cities in Florida for EV charging infrastructure. Still, there are gaps. Along with education to the public that demystifies electric cars and EV charging, we must dispel many misleading myths. As clean air advocates, we need to work for change in our local communities and states.
Plug In America and the Sierra Club have made that a bit easier to actualize. They released the AchiEVe: Model State & Local Policies to Accelerate Electric Vehicle Adoption toolkit. This policy guide details the most effective policies for growing the electric vehicle (EV) market at the state, city, and local levels.
In Amsterdam earlier this year for EVBox’s first annual rEVolution conference, one of the presenters was TED Talker, Latin American EV super advocate, and CleanTechnica reader Monica Araya. She gave a wonderful presentation on breaking down electric vehicle myths in Costa Rica, more broadly across Latin America, and even more broadly across the world. The presentation is definitely worth a watch, so have at it!
When regular people know I am working in the plug-in car business, their first reaction is: “Oh yeah, that’s the future…”
Some connect that with fighting climate change and give me the thumbs up. Others, possibly more tech-savvy, mention autonomous cars and Tesla, a brand that has a following even outside the electric vehicle bubble. I suspect a portion of Tesla owners buy them because they are sexy, fast and tech laden, with the autopilot being its most important feature, and the fact that they are electric is just an added bonus.
With the rising number of plug-in models available in the U.S., many at increasingly affordable prices, and with electricity getting greener, the climate benefits of electric cars are growing.
Originally published on EIA. In 2013, there were about 70,000 battery electric vehicles (EVs) and 104,000 plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs)—small numbers compared to around 226 million registered vehicles in the United States. Total U.S. sales of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) have increased in recent years, but still represent only … [continued]
