Introducing: The Electric Vehicle

An electric car is an automobile that is powered by one or more electric motors. It uses energy stored in a rechargeable battery, unlike the petroleum-powered automobiles that have been around for more than a century which most of us are still using. Charging an electric vehicle can be done at either a public charging station or a charging station installed in a private home.

A Brief History:

The first electric vehicles to be made were in fact created in the 1880s and were popular late in the last century before developments in internal combustion engines as well as the mass production of cheaper gasoline vehicles resulted in their decline. For the past decade, however, a resurgence around the manufacturing of electric vehicles has occurred due to the global concern around greenhouse gas emissions, pollution as well as huge advancements in technology.

Today:

Nowadays, both national and local governments are both encouraging and subsidizing the use of electric vehicles, through various incentives. In its efforts to combat climate change and reduce the country’s carbon emissions, the New Zealand government has just announced its plans to bring in new legislation that will subsidize the importation of both hybrid and electric vehicles, whilst adding a new fee on the import of vehicles with the highest greenhouse gas emissions. This follows an already established movement in Europe, with countries like Norway, the Netherlands, The United Kingdom, France, Spain, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland leading the charge towards a world where cleaner cars are the new norm.

The two current best-selling electric cars are the Nissan Leaf and Tesla Model S, which both have EPA-rated ranges reaching up to 243km and 600km. The Leaf has been touted as the best-selling highway-capable electric car, with more than 40,000 units being sold, whilst the Telsa Model S has sold over 40,000 units worldwide by June of this year.

At the beginning of 2019, the number of plug-in cars had risen to 5.6 million worldwide, a number including “passenger cars and light commercial vehicles with battery-electric drive, range extender and plug-in hybrids”. Countries from the USA to Norway, Japan, France, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Germany, Canada, Sweden, South Korea, Spain and Switzerland have all seen dramatic increases in registered electric and hybrid vehicles worldwide.

A global movement is happening, the world is switching gears to electric vehicles.