Electric Vehicles Have Another Record Year, Reaching 2 Million Cars In 2016 (iea.org)

An anonymous reader shares a report from the International Energy Agency: The number of electric cars on the roads around the world rose to 2 million in 2016, following a year of strong growth in 2015, according to the latest edition of the International Energy Agency's Global EV Outlook. China remained the largest market in 2016, accounting for more than 40% of the electric cars sold in the world. With more than 200 million electric two-wheelers and more than 300,000 electric buses, China is by far the global leader in the electrification of transport. China, the US and Europe made up the three main markets, totaling over 90% of all EVs sold around the world. Electric car deployment in some markets is swift. In Norway, electric cars had a 29% market share last year, the highest globally, followed by the Netherlands with 6.4%, and Sweden with 3.4%. The electric car market is set to transition from early deployment to mass market adoption over the next decade or so. Between 9 and 20 million electric car could be deployed by 2020, and between 40 and 70 million by 2025, according to estimates based on recent statement from carmakers.

Comments

China, the US and Europe

[turkeydance]

made up the three main markets....of just about everything

Need to get cooler looking electric cars

[mykepredko]

I feel like I'm the only person in the world that doesn't get a stiffy when looking at a Tesla. The Model S reminds me too much of a Jag with a dashboard that is overwhelmed with the 17" display and the Model 3 is just plain ugly.

Just like the Bolt and the Leaf. The i3 is about the best of a bad lot.

How about putting the front line designers on the vehicles and get the concepts evaluated by real people (not tree huggers that want drivers to be tortured even if they're burning electrons and not dinosaur sludge)?

I don't need to scream out at the world I have an electric car, I want something that looks nice, drives well and I can smile smugly to myself when I pass the pumps.

Re:Need to get cooler looking electric cars

[MightyMartian]

Technology has to go through stages. First you have the early adopters, who will buy the initial market offerings, which are inevitably too large, too expensive, and too inadequate, but they get to go around and say things "Have you seen my awesome cellular phone? And it only ways 10 lbs!"

Then you get the hipsters. They're the ones that buy the next generation of a technology, which has been greatly improved, but it still very damned expensive, but they're proud to announce over a cafe latte "I can buy my Pendleton scarves on Ebay with this!"

Then you get the executives. They want rugged and yet screams "I'm outrageously wealthy with a wife, a mistress and $200,000 sports car!" Again, the tech is still expensive, but at least it's now within the realm of an ordinary middle class grunt getting one.

The final stage is basically here everyone from a 12 year old to your gramma can get one. That's pretty much peak evolution for a technology. After that it's just steady refinement until one day, a successor product, after having gone through the early adopter, hipster and executive stages knocks it off its mantle and it ends up in a box somewhere and when you finally kick the bucket, your kids can go "Oh yeah, remember when we used to play Candy Crush and look up porn on that?"

Re:Amazing isn't it...

[MightyMartian]

One hundred and twenty years ago an automobile was a pretty unique sight, and I'm sure every fellow with a horse and carriage snorted "You got to find the gasoline for it, it's smelly a noisy. Who would want that when you've got a perfectly good horse?"

In 1900, there 8,000 cars in the US. By 1910 there were over 458,000.
Source: https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/ohim/...

And that's why we joke about buggy whip manufacturers.

Obligatory Responses

[CohibaVancouver]

- Insert obligatory Slashdot 'electric vehicle' responses here -

[Response 1: My commute is 300 miles! As a result this electric vehicle is useless for everyone!]

[Response 2: Some electricity is coal-generated! As a result, in all jurisdictions, this car is more polluting than a 1973 VW Microbus!]

Re:Obligatory Responses

[blindseer]

Of course, all is negated because you found the black swan, the tall midget, the short giant.

There is still a majority of rail that is not electrified. Many of these rails it is not economical to electrify. When an electric locomotive fails how is it recovered? With a diesel locomotive. How is a failed diesel locomotive recovered? With another diesel locomotive.

A diesel locomotive can travel electrified tracks but an electric train cannot travel on non-electrified tracks. This advantage is used often in cases when the electric line is at capacity or the line loses power.

Let's say that we use electric locomotives to move the fuel for airplanes and ships, does that mean we can do away with those oil pipelines? No. Because moving oil by electric train is asking for not only another spill (much more common when moving fuel by train than by pipe) but now it's moving on a rail in close proximity to high voltage power lines. Let's add the risks of a fire on top of the environmental damage to an oil spill. This is on top of using limited rail capacity to move a product that can be more cheaply and safely moved by pipeline.

The electric lines are a danger to cargo and passengers, put height limitations for cargo when the lines are overhead. Sure, electric trains have advantages which is why they are so common. If we made an all out effort to convert those diesel locomotives to electric then we'd have to spend a lot of money, and it would take decades to complete. What do we do in the mean time? We need to build oil pipelines so that the trains that carry the materials to electrify these lines can run. Even then we'd need to keep some diesel locomotives around for emergencies.

No, I'm pretty sure it is the tree huggers that look like idiots here.

Re:Obligatory Responses

[blindseer]

Still does nothing to address the amount of steel and concrete needed for wind power. Coal and nuclear use 1/10th the steel and concrete for the same power output. Where does this steel and concrete come from?

If advancements in wind mill technology can halve the cost of wind then would it not also be possible for advancements in technology to reduce the costs of nuclear power by a similar amount? Especially when wind takes so much more resources per production capacity? Wind is dead, it just doesn't know it yet. Once people realize the environmental impact of wind power to that of nuclear then nuclear will dominate.

Those that oppose nuclear power are ignorant, mentally impaired, or both. We can fix ignorant, but we can't fix stupid.

Re:Obligatory Responses

[Smidge204]

Do some tinkering with that math and compute how many amps that would be with a typical household electrical service voltage.

Counterpoint 1: Consider how many hours a day is your vehicle is sitting unused, and that virtually every moment of that could potentially be used for charging.

Counterpoint 2: The basic "level 2" charging rate available at virtually all private homes and businesses charges at a rate of about 25 miles per hour, and completes a full charge in 4 hours or less.

but electricity does not work for things like powering trains

Counterpoint 1: Virtually all light rail in my area is "3rd rail" electric, and pretty much every subway is as well. There is also older, overhead electric type.

Counterpoint 2: Trains are about the easiest to electrify, adding "battery cars" strikes me as quite feasible.

long haul trucking, aircraft, watercraft, and so much more

Counterpoint 1: The vast majority of trucking is not long-haul.

Counterpoint 2: Why would it be necessary to replace *every* mode of transportation with a single technology? How does it affect the benefits of electrifying personal vehicles if it's currently not practical to make battery electric aircraft?

Well, for one it might be helpful if idiot tree huggers stop protesting oil pipelines. We need that oil.

Counterpoint 1: Basically none of the oil in the recently contested Keystone XL pipeline would end up being used in the US. The pipeline is bullshit.

Counterpoint 2: Yes, we will need petroleum for lots of things for the foreseeable future... all the more reason to try and NOT burn it unless we absolutely have to.

These idiot tree huggers are destroying the environment.

Counterpoint: Your derogatory characterization and pigeonholing of people who can see the forest for the trees (if you'll allow the expression) is both inaccurate and childish.
=Smidge=

Re:Amazing isn't it...

[swillden]

I am definitely hopeful. I'd love to buy an electric car now. However, I live in a condo, and board and owners are not interested in installing any charging points in our parking. So, no luck in any foreseeable future.

Give it a few years. Charging stations in the parking area will become an important competitive point for apartment and condo complexes, just as parking spots and swimming pools are now.