Picking out the Positives
WENVOE FORUM
Considering Tomorrow Today
Picking out the Positives
So many stories, reports, opinion pieces and forecasts clamor for our attention and nag at our emotions. The news, it seems, is always bad and the potential consequences are always predicted to be dire either economically or environmentally and often both. It’s hard not to join in the weeping and the wailing so here is a positive story in the twists and turns of the road to electric vehicle dominance.
As has happened before, the sudden recent turbulence and the exposure of our dependence on the reliability of supply in the oil market, has raised consumer interest in electric vehicles. On previous occasions interest has subsided once the crisis was passed but this time “experts in the field”, policy makers, civil servants and academics suggest that for many consumers, the figures add up and the move to electric vehicles for the private car has passed what has been described as a tipping point in lower and middle income economies with the exception of China where government policies and interventions have been a significant factor.
This tipping point is fuelled by a number of factors with overall cost and convenience of use being high on the list. A 2025 report from BEUC, The European Consumer Organisation, indicated that in much of Europe the lifetime cost of owning electric vehicles was already lower than their petrol/diesel equivalents for medium sized cars and cost savings for 1st, 2nd and third owners would very soon extend to small cars in response to market demand. Improved batteries and the development of the charging infrastructure have given the individual more confidence in their electric vehicle for greater distances travelled. It is also possible to use your EV as part of the household electricity system and smart use of its battery can reduce bills and help make best use of solar power generation if you have it.
As an individual one can feel heartened that it seems likely that now EV purchases are good economic sense for households who can also feel better about their carbon footprint and lower the air pollution not least in the vicinity of their own home. There are of course currently some other factors to address in the transition from fossil fuels to electric cars. The mining of required chemicals is often dangerous and not well regulated everywhere, the effect on local economies based on car manufacture can be badly affected if the transition is not well managed. But overall the transition to electric vehicles is seen as a positive step for the environment.
This article has been informed by a discussion paper from the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics (Elliot, Harper and Nguyen-Tien)
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