If you need any more proof that responding to climate change is painstakingly slow, here are some electric vehicle estimates from Gartner.
By 2020, between 5 percent and 8 percent of vehicles on the U.S. roads will be battery powered, the research firm says.
Will Americans trade their F-Series trucks for electric cars? Not quickly.
By 2030, that total will rise to between 15 percent and 20 percent.
“We want to be realistic,” says Vice President Thilo Koslowski. “We see the challenges consumers have adopting these (cars).”
While car companies might find attractive opportunities in these numbers, overall they indicate the change in the American fleet will be relatively slow given the imperative of global warming.
Koslowski, speaking at the German American Business Association Monday evening in Silicon Valley, suggested that even these relatively modest steps require significant changes in consumer habits. Many consumers will become accustom to charging their cars at home, he said. One in five have garages that will make the transition easier and simplify the installation of 240 volt power lines.
But range anxiety – the fear that a car will run out of juice before reaching its destination – is real. And many Americans are rigidly locked into what they buy.
Despite several years of warnings on climate change, the top selling vehicle in September was the Ford F-Series pickup, hardly a gas miser.
In California, obviously, things are different. The state is on the top of the list for the Prius hybrid, with 11,839 sold through 2008. But the next highest state is Florida with only 2,753.
It is likely to take 15 to 20 years to replace today’s vehicles with high efficiency ones – and that is with the support of government programs – says Koslowski.
In other words, Cash for Clunkers II here we come.
Very intriguing article, something identical to this occurred to me not too long ago and it pretty much played out similarly to how you explain it.