That struck a chord. I have heard many words used up to now to characterise electric vehicles, but inevitable is by far the most exciting. Sums up plug-ins better than any other word I can think of and a world away from the current behind-the-curve media mischaracterisation of what they perceive to be a failing industry.
At a global level, climate change means impending doom for millions, but this is clearly not a motivation that individuals can react to quickly even if they wish to and whilst governments are doing their best, progress is slow. Likewise, the risk to the economy and to individuals of another oil price shock, peak oil and hostile supply sources is not enough to really drive the EV agenda.
At a local level however (and EV uptake around the world is driven as much by local policies as by central government policies- think charging infrastructure, use of bus lanes, and EV only parking just for starters), the issue is air pollution, and in particular particulates emitted primarily by diesel vehicles. China is rightfully getting a bad rap currently for the appalling state of the air in dozens of cities, so much so that to venture out on to the street is akin to walking around the chokingly smog-filled streets of London nearly 60 years ago. In central London the air might look clean, but the city of Westminster recently came second for the worst air quality across the UK, again due primarily to particulates from cars, taxis and commercial vehicles.
When public health rises to the top of the political agenda - as it it doing now in countries and municipalities around the world -we will start to see some real action. The European Commission will shortly mandate for clean energy and transport, with binding commitments for member states for the implementation of a massive electric vehicle infrastructure programme, which in turn will become mandatory for homes and workplaces and result in a significant and rapid expansion of EV recharging infrastructure, linked to smart metering and smart grid programmes. The dots will start to be joined up, though we are probably talking decades rather than years.
This is the inevitability of EVs.
