A REVOLUTION has gathered pace in the transport sector. Electric cars, once the preserve of those with deep pockets, have hit the mainstream. Figures released on 26 April by the International Energy Agency (IEA) suggest that almost one in five new cars sold worldwide this year will be either full battery electric or plug-in hybrid models. In total, 14 million of these kinds of vehicles are expected to be sold this year, up from about a million in 2017. This explosive growth is testament to innovation and government interventions. Falling battery costs have delivered longer-range cars, boosting their appeal to consumers. Meanwhile, government policies, including looming bans on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars in some countries, have nudged people to embrace lower-emission driving. This transformation in the car industry will reshape world energy use. Global oil demand for road transport will peak in 2025, the IEA predicts. "The internal combustion engine has gone unrivalled for over a century, but electric vehicles are changing the status quo," said Fatih Birol at the IEA in a statement. VUK VALDC/ALAMY Although electrification of the global vehicle fleet brings climate benefits, there is also cause for concern. SUVs have been growing in popularity, accounting for 42 per cent of all car sales in 2020. Electric SUVs have also gained ground, representing roughly 35 per cent of electric passenger car sales in 2022. Christian Brand at the University of Oxford dubs this trend towards larger cars a "mobesity" epidemic. Electric More charging points have helped electric cars appeal to consumers SUVS are greener than their petrol and diesel counterparts, but their size erases some of the climate gains from moving to electric vehicles (EVS). Their larger batteries also require more raw minerals, like cobalt and lithium, putting extra pressure on stretched supplies. "The trend towards larger cars is definitely not desirable," says Brand. He suggests policies may be needed to encourage people to opt for smaller EVs, such as hiking taxes for electric SUVS. "Of course, that's unpopular with policy-makers because they would fear losing votes. But we could save hundreds of millions of tonnes of carbon over time, cumulatively to 2050, if we did something like this in the UK," he says. Air pollution is another worry. In lower-income countries like India, electric scooters and tuk-tuks are replacing diesel-powered vehicles in their droves, the IEA reports, which will lead to improvements in urban air quality. But in higher-income countries, where petrol and diesel cars tend to be cleaner, the situation isn't so clear, says Frank Kelly at Imperial College London. "The benefit of moving to an electric vehicle, from an exhaust emission point of view, is actually pretty small," says Kelly. And since electric vehicles still produce pollution from tyres, brakes and road wear, air pollution won't go away. "We're still going to have a pretty big problem in our cities," says Kelly. Governments must do more to reduce car dependency, says Kelly. "Clean public transport is the solution to our air pollution problem in urban areas," he says. "And really, we should be minimising all private vehicles as much as possible, not celebrating the increased numbers." need someone to retell this
A REVOLUTION has gathered pace in the transport sector. Electric cars, once th…
