CanaryMedia: “Chart: EVs are ascendant — and gas cars are past their prime.” Many Americans suffer from a misapprehension about the surging success of electric vehicles globally, because of our short-sighted + politicized resistance to the rollout of EVs—even though in 2024 vs. 2023 the U.S. ‘experienced sales growth of over 10%, largely driven by the release of new electric vehicle models and availability of EV tax credits, which provided financial aid to consumers.’ Worldwide, “nearly 11 million new EVs were sold around the globe last year, with most of those new EVs hitting the road in China.” Only 15 yrs ago, EVs + hybrids were practically nonexistent. In fact, I didn’t even have one that far back.
Now, proponents of internal combustion engine [ICE] cars will immediately object to the inclusion of Plug-Hybrid-EVs [PHEV] + hybrid electric vehicles [HEV] in this collection, but 3 points of rebuttal. First, I will grant that the pure electric car is the only category that never needs an oil change or fuel except electricity, but the other 2 vehicle groups clearly will serve as thoroughfares to complete emancipation from fossil fuels. Second, EV charging systems are being disseminated rapidly in all 50 states in spite of vehement federal hostility. Third, this is a discussion only of personal vehicles + light trucks, not heavy-duty transportation, which I will leave to another day.
What is sending chills down the backs of the petroleum corporations is the statement that internal combustion engine vehicles are officially past their global peak. “At their all-time high in 2017, worldwide sales of pure ICE vehicles hit 79.9 M units—last year, sales dropped to 54.8 M.” While I was not a math major, that sounds like a drop of more than 25 M in just 7 yrs. Round that off as 80 M dropping to 55 M in less than a decade. Or if you prefer a single number to remember, it’s a broken-elevator descent of over 31%.
Would you imagine that petroleum executives are paying attention as the rug is being pulled from under their feet? Apparently, not a good idea to wear roller skates on a rug anyway. What do you anticipate will be the progression of this industrial collapse over the next 1-2 yrs? I’m not a betting man, but I would surely hate to bet against this trendline.
