The Exponential Growth of Electric Vehicle Adoption

Posted by: JackSawyer // Student

The rise of electric car companies like Tesla, growing fears of climate change, and tougher policies on emissions have culminated in a growing attention on the electric vehicle industry. And the EV industry is ready for this attention “because the factors required to unlock demand...are [now] in place” (Mims).

These factors will allow the EV market to grow exponentially and compete against gas cars for the first time. The biggest cost and hinderance on electric vehicles is the battery, it is only in the last couple of years that this drawback has began to subside. Batteries are now cheap enough to where the electric vehicle can compete against gas cars. What's more, the technology has progressed significantly, to the point where you can buy an $35,000 EV with a 200 mile range on a single charge. In comparison, the average new car in America sells for $33.000. Continuing to improve range and reduce costs will allow the EV market to appeal to more and more people in the future. The important fact here though is that they have reached a point where they can be competitive against other vehicles and cost effective to the consumer.

Getting over the hurdle of battery limitations allows the remaining factors to fall in place, it is a domino effect. With the battery no longer being a major hinderance, competition within the electric market has started to grow. We have seen Tesla’s success spur Chevrolet, GM, BMW, Volkswagen, and countless others to start producing their own electric vehicles with new advancements to secure their spot in the emerging market. This competition will improve the price and technologies in EV’s. Manufacturers will try to gain a competitive advantage in areas like battery range and charging time.

Charging is another factor and as the competition grows so do the stations. The “number of commercial charging stations is growing quickly in part because they’re relatively cheap—costing $3,000 to $7,500 per port, depending on whether it is new construction or a retrofit. When attached to a business, they can attract customers, and encourage them to stay longer and spend more” (Mims). With the ability to set up charging stations almost anywhere and their relatively affordable price, the number will continue to increase rapidly. Furthermore, businesses have the ncentive to add them because they attract customers and make them stay for a period of time. The growth of charging stations alleviates another fear associated with electric vehicles - what if I can’t find a charging station near me when my batteries low?

With the advent of competitive battery prices and mileage, the remaining factors have been and will continue to fall into place to accommodate the growing demand. Competing EV manufactures and charging stations have been laying dormant but are prepared for the demand, this will allow the market to grow quickly and relatively comfortably.

What do you think of the electric vehicle market? Will we see mass adoption soon?

Mims, Christopher. "Why Electric Cars Will Be Here Sooner Than You Think."WSJ. Dow Jones, 28 Aug. 2016. Web. 01 Sept. 2016. <http://www.wsj.com/articles/why-electric-cars-will-be-here-sooner-than-you-think-1472402674>.