The electric vehicle revolution is here. At first it was a trickle, led by Tesla who managed to make electric cars a sought-after status symbol. Then it grew, as new car makers, especially China’s BYD and NIO, launched new models. Now it is a flood as traditional car makers pivot from internal combustion engine to electric vehicles.
And the numbers are telling the story. In 2020, globally just 4% of vehicles sold were electric. In 2023, the International Energy Agency estimate it will be almost 20%. China is the leading market for electric vehicles, with 60% of the world’s electric vehicle sales happening in the world’s second-largest economy.
The industry is now moving beyond electric cars and starting to move to electric buses and trucks. But with these heavier vehicles comes a whole new set of challenges. The power needed for these heavier vehicles requires weighty and wildly expensive batteries and more powerful charging stations. With heavier batteries comes a trade-off between vehicle range (the distance a truck can drive between charges) and vehicle capacity (the more weight that is taken up by batteries, the less goods that can be transported). But watch this space, because EV makers are leaning into these challenges with Tesla again leading the way – starting deliveries of the Tesla Semi in late 2022.
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