Hi, and welcome to The Bottom Line!
In this video, we're going to take a closer look at the fits and starts electric vehicles
have experienced over the past few decades, why some automakers are choosing to make hybrids
vs. electric cars, and why all-electric vehicles are likely the future.
The very first electric cars debuted in the early 1800s and began growing in popularity
by the end of the century.
But Henry Ford's mass-produced Model T debuted in 1908, and that, along with the invention
of the electric starter for automobiles, quickly helped put an end to the early growth of electric vehicles.
But in the early 1990s, the electric car began experiencing a resurgence.
A 1990 California laws said that by 1998, 2% of vehicles that large manufacturers produced
for sale in California had to be zero emissions vehicles, and that percentage would increase
to 10% by 2003.
The problem was that the electric cars that automakers created in the wake of this new
law were expensive to produce, and even the most popular ones like GM's EV1, only had
a range of about 100 miles, which was far below the average range of gas-powered vehicles.
To make matters worse for electric cars, gas prices were very low in the mid-1990s.
The average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gas in California at the end of 1996
was less than $1.20 per gallon.
Those low gas prices, combined with a strong U.S. economy, meant that American drivers
were looking to buy larger vehicles without much concern for gas mileage.
Additionally, many of the strict requirements first introduced by California were challenged
in court and eventually watered down.
But the electric car came back with a vengeance in 2006 when Tesla did something that all
other automakers had failed to do -- it made the electric car cool.
The company's first vehicle, the all-electric Roadster, had a range of 245 miles, which
matched the lower-end range for gas powered engines.
Oh, and it also went 0 to 60 in just 3.7 seconds.
In 2018, 10 years after launching its original Roadster, Tesla produced 350,000 vehicles
-- far more than the 2,400 Roadsters it sold between 2008 and 2012.
While Tesla has had its share of problems, there's no denying that the company has helped
electric vehicles become more mainstream.
Now, nearly every automaker is seeing the value of selling electric vehicles.
But it's not just consumer demand that's driving this shift.
Both China and Europe are putting pressure on automakers to reduce vehicle emissions.
China, which is the world's largest auto market, penalizes automakers if they don't sell a
minimum amount of zero emissions vehicles.
This is causing some automakers to move away not just from internal combustion engines,
but also from hybrid vehicles as well.
GM and Volkswagen recently said that they're abandoning development of hybrid vehicles
and focusing their attention on all-electric vehicles.
GM says that it'll bring 20 electric vehicles to market by 2023.
Volkswagen is bringing a new plug-in electric SUV to the U.S. in 2020, and launching an
electric minibus by 2022.
Of course, not all automakers are betting on electric vehicles in the same way.
Ford is working on both electric and hybrid versions of its popular F-150 pickup truck.
Toyota is working to put its hybrid technology into more of its vehicles.
While automakers disagree whether hybrids or electrics are the better long-term solution
for creating low emissions vehicles, it's clear that both have become serious alternatives
to the internal combustion engine.
Some experts predict that electric vehicles will make up 7% of the U.S. automotive market
in 2030, with hybrids taking 23%.
The bottom line is, with Volkswagen, GM, and others focusing more of their resources towards
electric vehicles, and Tesla's vehicles already leading the way, it's likely that electric
vehicles are finally here to stay. Thanks for watching this video!
Do you think that electric vehicles are the future of automotive transportation?
Let us know in the comments.
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