Environmental worries to lift EV sales

- Global sales of electric vehicles are set to rise this year due to worries about security of oil supply, the environment and fuel costs, UK consultancy J.D. Power said.

Global sales of electric cars are expected to reach 940,000 units this year compared with 732,000 units last year, with the number jumping to 3 million in 2015, J.D. Power analysts said in a report.

The uptake of battery powered cars is seen as key to fighting climate change by cutting carbon emissions, as well as a way to wean economies off imported or difficult to reach oil, as highlighted by BP's Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

More than 98 percent of sales are expected to be of hybrid electric cars, which are part petrol, part battery, rather than plug-in cars, which are wholly battery powered and need to be charged from a power point.

J.D. Power also said it expected the U.S. to account for 55 percent of the hybrid market by 2015, followed by Asia with most of the sales in Japan.

"We think Asia as a whole will account for about 30 percent of global hybrid sales in 2015, with Japan's volume at nearly 750,000 units, or about 25 percent of the global hybrid market," it said.

In the smaller plug-in market, sales were forecast to be 23,000 this year, rising to 500,000 by 2015, but growth would be hampered by high vehicle costs and poor driving ranges compared with hybrids.

"The plug-in Nissan Leaf and the Tesla Roadster have a driving range of 100 miles to 250 miles, depending on the size of the battery, whereas a hybrid Toyota Prius can go 600 miles," it said.

Hydrogen powered fuel cell vehicles sales were predicted to be flat.

"We think sales of cars powered by fuel cells will remain below 20,000 units per year for the next 10 years: The technology is currently too expensive, and this isn't likely to change soon," the report said.

Related News

BLM Announces Completion of Crimson Energy Storage Project

LOS ANGELES - The Bureau of Land Management announced that construction of the Crimson Energy Storage Project, a 350-megawatt battery storage system in eastern Riverside County, is now complete, and the system is in operation and expanding grid capacity. The battery storage project will provide 1400 megawatt-hours of electricity at full capacity and is a significant milestone in the Biden-Harris administration’s efforts to modernize America’s power infrastructure in the West and achieve a goal of 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2035.

“The BLM is proud to support responsible development of renewable energy projects as part of our mission to sustainably manage…

READ MORE
houston-power-outage-extends

Frustration Mounts as Houston's Power Outage Extends

READ MORE

Germany considers U-turn on nuclear phaseout

READ MORE

India's electricity demand falls at the fastest pace in at least 12 years

READ MORE

finland-investigates-russian-ship-after-electricity-cable-damage

Finland Investigates Russian Ship After Electricity Cable Damage

READ MORE