Electric Vehicles

The new government’s chief policy thinktank has suggested banning sales of non-electric two and three wheelers in 2025 and cars, trucks and buses five years later as well as forcing public fleets and the cars used by ride hailing apps to be electric.

Representatives of the UK solar industry have praised prime minister Theresa May’s plan to amend the 2008 Climate Change Act with a 2050 net zero emissions target while urging the government to articulate how it will achieve its goal. In particular, the industry has pointed to the need to eliminate barriers that continue to hinder deployment of solar and battery storage systems.

A report on the prospects for a mooted $2.6tn electric vehicle market over the next decade says PHEVs – part electric, part gas-guzzling – are already losing market share rapidly to pure electric rivals, and will be extinct by 2030.

Flying in the face of claims the rise of China’s clean energy sector undermines the security of developed nations and harms the profitability of their businesses, a research paper argues such a view is outdated and ill-advised. It presents four opportunities for Western players to tap ‘Green China Inc’.

Among 45 critical energy technologies and sectors assessed in a tracking report by the International Energy Agency, only seven are keeping hopes alive that climate, energy access and air pollution goals can be met.

The International Energy Agency says more than 2 million electric vehicles hit the road last year, to take the total to more than 5 million. The agency has stressed the importance of public policy, charging infrastructure and a fall in costs for continued EV uptake, and says up to 43 million EVs could be sold in 2030.

Electric vehicles could account for more than half of all passenger cars and buses sold throughout the world within the next two decades, according to a new report by BloombergNEF. Sliding lithium-ion battery costs will make EVs cheaper than vehicles based on internal combustion engines by the mid- to late-2020s, the research firm says.

Coming hot on the heels of major reports and a heated public debate about electric vehicles, a poll commissioned by the Climate Council has confirmed Australians believe electric cars are the future. Another poll, by The Australia Institute, has 50% of Australian voters supporting all car sales being electric by 2025.

The pending electric vehicle transition is all set to offer on-site self-consumption to the already compelling business case for solar carports, says French renewables developer Neoen.

Solar and wind could account for three-fifths of electricity generation in 2050, with more than 14.5 TW of installed power. Lumped together, renewables are expected to reach a power generation capacity of around 20 TW.