EVs on their eco-friendly way

It seems the eco-friendly automobile is a thing of the near-future rather than light-years away. The arrival of mass market electronic vehicles (EVs) is much anticipated amongst those who choose to live “green”, but it is generally thought to be a long time coming. Currently, the premiums on plug-in-hybrids and EVs are just too great to be a viable option for automobile manufacturers. And while many production companies are eager for the EVs to take off, as the “clean” machines will open up many avenues of new business, they are just too expensive.

However, one company, the General Electric Company (GE), is taking the first steps towards lower carbon count and cleaner, greener pastures. It recently announced its decision to buy 12 000 plug-in or electronic vehicles from General Motors (GM). It will start off with the soon-to-be-released Chevy Revolt and, in a revolutionary move, has pledged that by 2015 half of its fleet of 30 000 vehicles will be electric.

As one of the renewable energy industry’s biggest players, GE claims that it will exceed more than $500million in near-term revenues just from playing a part in the EV infrastructure market.

The EVs themselves are appealing vehicles; they look good, and, if the premiums can be lowered enough for the cars to become affordable for the everyday person, they’ll save users money while being easy on the environment – a big plus in these carbon cloudy days.

Thierry Koskas, the head of Renault’s electric vehicle project, stated recently that by the year 2016 approximately 5% of the world car market would be comprised of EVs. He was addressing the Reuters Global Autos Summit in Paris where most other executives at the summit were less optimistic about the prospects for EVs’ in the near future.

No matter when they will be released, hybrid and electric cars are finally becoming a reality. As they say, “Rome wasn’t built in a day”.

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Jade Scully is a copywriter, blogger and online marketing enthusiast who has published her work on a series of online publications and websites including Leeulekker who provide a range of automotive resources for southern Africans.