My friend Thomas doesn’t like my electric car posts.

He thinks we should be concentrating on removing our addiction to cars and remodelling urban spaces to make using them difficult or just really sucky for cars.

In a way he’s right, and I think that especially in big urban centres with decent public transport where it’s scary to drive (I’m thinking of you, Paris), a rent-when-you-need-it electric car system will probably become dominant alongside public transport, and indeed—again in Paris—car trips are on a big downward trend. Having the streets full of cyclists that appear not to really know what the traffic rules are is also helping to discourage driving in Paris. I mean, who wants to kill a cyclist by accident, even if the cyclist is a moron?

But in smaller towns and villages and hamlets and all that, electric cars are probably going to be just how it is, even into the future.

In this context, it’s rather good new that electric car prices are set to drop below petrol and diesel car prices in the next 3-5 years. Obviously, price will continue to drive demand.

“Electric vehicles are close to the “tipping point” of rapid mass adoption thanks to the plummeting cost of batteries, experts say.
“Global sales rose 43% in 2020, but even faster growth is anticipated when continuing falls in battery prices bring the price of electric cars dipping below that of equivalent petrol and diesel models, even without subsidies. The latest analyses forecast that to happen some time between 2023 and 2025.
“The tipping point has already been passed in Norway, where tax breaks mean electric cars are cheaper. The market share of battery-powered cars soared to 54% in 2020 in the Nordic country, compared with less than 5% in most European nations.”

The craziest thing is that global sales rose 43%. In. One. Year.

Massive.

Battery prices are plummeting too, and one million mile batteries are on the way, which is just epic. Running costs of electric cars are already way below those of the alternatives.

Here’s the evolution of battery prices:

Ten times cheaper in only ten years. That is really something to shake your cat at. (I thought this was an expression but Google only offers me advice as to, “Why is my cat trembling”? when I checked, so I’m guessing maybe not).

“Electric cars are quieter and have faster acceleration, and rapid mass adoption will also be increased by the fact that, once motorists have one, they will not want to return to a petrol or diesel vehicle. In a recent poll of 2,000 electric car owners, 91% said they would not want to go back.”

I don’t know anyone that bought a Mac and then went back to a PC.