The numbers paint a daunting picture. In 2019, consumers worldwide bought 64 million new personal cars and 27 million new commercial motor vehicles, a paltry 2.1 million of which were electric-powered. Climate scientists tell us that we have less than a decade to make meaningful reductions in carbon emissions – including those from internal combustion engines – if we have any hope of staving off the worst effects of global warming.
Yet manufacturers are still making, and consumers are still buying, overwhelming numbers of vehicles that will, on average, continue to spew carbon into the atmosphere for a dozen years after they first leave the lot. That means new cars bought this year will still be on the road well into the 2030s – long after the point when we should have slashed emissions.
Like we said, a daunting picture.
What will it take to throttle back the gas burners and expand exponentially the number of vehicles that run on electric batteries, hydrogen fuel cells or other non-fossil energy sources? Political will, strong government thumbs on the scale to favor zero-emission vehicles over gas burners (an all-out ban on their production and sale is likely too radical for the world, but it would certainly help), and increased spending on developing and producing clean energy sources, battery technologies and charging capabilities.
It will also require a significant overhaul of electric grids as we move more quickly from fossil-fueled production of electricity to renewable sources, a process that demands significant investments and research into storage technologies to keep the system working through dark nights and windless days. We will need innovations to speed up car battery charging – or even reduce batteries’ size and cost so that they can be swapped out for a fresh one rather than waiting for a charge to finish, much as we do with propane tanks for gas grills (which we also need to evolve away from).