As of early this year, the number of electric cars in the world has passed the 400,000 mark. This represents a doubling of the number from just 12 months ago, which in turn was a doubling of the previous year’s total. There is no doubt that there is sharp and steady growth in electric vehicles.
The United States leads the world in the adoption of electric cars with over 175,000 on the road. We also have the lead in plug-in hybrid vehicles, which supplement electric drive trains with internal combustion engines. About 100,000 of these were sold in 2013. Apart from cars that plug into electric sockets, we also have experienced a boom in hybrid cars. As of last fall, there were over 3 million hybrids on the road in the United States.
All of these statistics are encouraging. The trend is clear towards the growing adoption of greener, more energy-efficient vehicles. However, the absolute numbers are still quite small. Overall sales in the US amount to about 15 million cars and light trucks a year. So the sales of non-traditional vehicles like electric cars and hybrids are still only a tiny fraction of the overall market.
Adoption of electric cars is very much dependent upon incentives and upon various local factors. In the US, drivers in California, Washington and Hawaii are buying far more electric cars per capita than in other states. But with more cars to choose from, increasing driving range, and anticipated lower prices, the boom in electric cars is likely to continue going forward.
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Electric car numbers double in one year
Photo, posted February 19, 2011, courtesy of Michael Gil via Flickr.
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Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.