It might seem far fetched to think that gasoline cars will be displaced by electric vehicles by 2016 but futurist Lars Thomsen has predicted that will be the beginning of a quite rapid end to the gasoline engine – especially in Europe and North America. What’s going to push this change along? The rapid deployment of charge stations, falling prices of electric vehicles, improved battery technology and of course the steady increase in oil prices as ‘cheap’ oil becomes a thing of the past. Lars likens the scenario to the ‘popcorn effect’. You hang around the stove waiting for the corn to pop – then bingo, one kernal pops followed in rapid succession by a series of others. Tesla popped last year!
If you have a look at the deployment of rapid charge stations (Supercharge stations) and the planned rollout that’s underway (see the Tesla Supercharge page) you’ll see that by 2015 it will be possible to traverse the whole of the US and most of Western Europe in a Tesla by dropping in to their network. Charging if always FREE and the energy is collected with Solar Panels. For those not driving Tesla vehicles charge stations are becoming ubiquitous in most European countries. For example by 2011 there were 400 charge stations in London. There are literally tens of thousands of public charge points deployed throughout Europe. Even in Australia (with no incentives and little public discussion) we have perhaps 100 stations deployed nationally with most of those currently in Melbourne and Perth (about 30 in each city).
All the major car manufacturers now have hybrid or pure EV production vehicles. As the general public becomes more savvy to the benefits of driving electric the ‘popcorn effect’ that futurist Lars describes might very well sound the death knell of the toxic gasoline engine sooner than we all expect … hallelujah!
What will Australia be doing, Moving forward like the rest of the world, Or sitting on the Fence.
While every one passes us by.
What would it cost to fill one of these electric car’s, And how often would need to charge up. As electicity prices goes up quicker than petrol.
Hi Harry – the cost depends on the size of battery – the question may be better framed by asking how much does it cost to travel 100kms. In the Nissan Leaf that would cost approximately $4.00 in electricity charges. For an average petrol car the cost would be anywhere from $9 (for a very fuel efficient car) to $14 dollars. There is a calculator on the website where you can work out annual saving on fuel: http://myelectriccar.com.au/calculator/. This does not include the savings to be made from reduced servicing costs. Of course if you have solar panels the cost of charging the vehicle is reduced even further or completely eliminated. How often would you need to charge it? Depends on how far you drive each day – the average daily drive in Australia for a passenger vehicle is about 40kms. If the EV range is 150kms (like the Leaf) then you’d need a full charge every 3 or 4 days.
Hi EV Tech, Thanks for your reply. But I travel too many kms for me to own one of these Vehicals. I don’t use every day, My Mother is in a Nursing Home 50kms away, I visit three to four times a week, when I take her out I would cover approx 120 to 160kms per trip, My Electricity has just gone up to 38cents p/kwhours. So I would need a Vehical that would Travel approx 300kms, Taking in to account you would most probably loose 25% of Charge for Headlights, Wipers Heater Demister etc. We have not got the Luxery of Solar Panels, We have not got J terriffe on our Electricity. And the car’s are only for the Rich and Wealthy. I don’t think Australia is seriouse about the Car’s, They are only interested in Hybrids, I think the oil companies have got the Govenment under there thumb.