According to a recent report from the International Energy Agency (IEA), 2016 was a record year for electric vehicle (EV) sales. More than 750,000 EVs were sold worldwide last year, compared to 547,220 sold in 2015.
Transportation makes up a significant portion of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions—14 percent globally according to a 2014 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report. In the US, cars and trucks account for nearly one-fifth of greenhouse gas emissions.
The transportation sector is a stubborn one to clean up, too. An example can be found in California, where even as carbon-reducing policies have brought GHG emissions from the energy sector down to 20 percent, transportation still currently makes up 40 percent of the state's emissions, according to a recent statement from the state's Public Utilities commissioner.
Alternative-fuel vehicles are important to hitting emissions goals, but the IEA report says that currently, there is not enough momentum behind plug-in cars without strong policies incentivizing adoption, like tax credits and zero-emissions vehicles lanes.
[...] 2016 showed that if certain incentives are taken away, sales falter. Such a scenario played out in the Netherlands where tax incentives were gradually phased out for Plug In Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV), which dropped PHEV sales by 50 percent. Battery electric vehicles (BEVs), however, weren't affected by the tax, and sales grew by 47 percent.
In Denmark, too, the country started reinstating registration taxes after years of exemptions for EVs and ended some government procurement programs. As a result, the country saw a 68 percent drop in electric car sales in 2016. New Danish incentives will be added this year, however—the country will begin offering a purchase tax rebate on EVs based on battery capacity—which ought to produce an interesting data point to next year's report.
-- submitted from IRC
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday June 13 2017, @03:33PM (14 children)
Until there are a significant number of vehicles, I think zero-emissiions vehicle lanes would mostly be used by BMW drivers in non-zero emissions vehicles. Don't BMW drivers already account for a significant amount of use of carpool lanes -- even when the BMW is empty? BMW drivers have important things to do and shouldn't be delayed by mere traffic.
Special lanes for zero-emissions vehicles are less of an incentive, IMO, than tax credits. Once you've overcome the initial cost of the vehicle, isn't the cost of charging less than the ongoing cost of fuel (and oil!) in fossil fuel vehicles?
Is there a chemotherapy treatment for excessively low blood alcohol level?
(Score: 2) by NewNic on Tuesday June 13 2017, @04:48PM (4 children)
I don't see too many empty BMWs in the carpool lanes.
I do see significant numbers of BMWs in the carpool lane with only one person in the car.
lib·er·tar·i·an·ism ˌlibərˈterēənizəm/ noun: Magical thinking that useful idiots mistake for serious political theory
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 13 2017, @04:53PM (3 children)
Just wait until BMW sells its first self-driving car. :-)
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday June 13 2017, @05:03PM (2 children)
If it's self driving, delivering itself to somewhere, shouldn't it wait in traffic like everyone else? Or does the brand still confer the "more equal than others" treatment?
Is there a chemotherapy treatment for excessively low blood alcohol level?
(Score: 3, Funny) by AndyTheAbsurd on Tuesday June 13 2017, @06:48PM (1 child)
Self-driving BMWs will take the carpool lane to as close as the interstate goes to the ghetto, then circle around the ghetto showing off to the filthy poors while running red lights and stops signs for hours, then will take the carpool lane back to the owner's place of business to pick the owner up and ferry them to their next destination. Repeat, replacing "place of business" with "fancy restaurant", "country club", or "mansion in a gated community" as appropriate. The only time that the BMW will stay still is when it's parked at the mansion in a gated community, or maybe (if it's a model that costs over $250,000) in front of the fancy restaurant.
Please note my username before responding. You may have been trolled.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 13 2017, @10:09PM
Is real-life product placement advertising a thing yet?
I wonder how much wanna-be fancy restaurant would pay to have the $250K+ self-driving super cars park in its lot when their owners don't need them... (even if the owner would never set foot inside the place...)
(Score: 3, Interesting) by NewNic on Tuesday June 13 2017, @04:51PM (2 children)
Personal anecdote here: carpool lane access was the primary reason that I bought an EV. However, buying the EV resulted in a significant change in my carbon footprint: after buying the EV and realizing that my electricity bill would skyrocket (tiered electricity rates where I live), I also bought solar panels for my house and have a Tesla model 3 deposit in place.
lib·er·tar·i·an·ism ˌlibərˈterēənizəm/ noun: Magical thinking that useful idiots mistake for serious political theory
(Score: 1) by tftp on Wednesday June 14 2017, @01:53AM (1 child)
I see that you are saving money hand over fist :-)
I was entitled to a HOV sticker when I bought the Prius in 2005. At that time they were issued to PZEVs. However I never applied for the sticker, as I would have rarely used those lanes anyway. It all depends on where you drive and when.
(Score: 2) by NewNic on Wednesday June 14 2017, @03:22PM
Yes, my initial outlay has been high. Actually, I leased the Leaf, rather than buying: depreciation on Leafs is very high. The solar panels, I bought. I expect the panels to payoff over only 6 years.
lib·er·tar·i·an·ism ˌlibərˈterēənizəm/ noun: Magical thinking that useful idiots mistake for serious political theory
(Score: 5, Insightful) by bob_super on Tuesday June 13 2017, @04:59PM (4 children)
Elon Musk is again one step ahead.
What's the biggest problem with putting people in the shiny new tunnels dug by the Boring Company? Engines spewing fumes.
One or two decades from now, people in shiny Teslas will be driving under L.A. at full speed, while ICE peons will remain parked on the 405...
How's that for an incentive?
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday June 13 2017, @09:06PM (3 children)
Park it on the 405 or whiz in your tunnels, I'll be driving my convertible on PCH instead, thank you very much (and, no, I don't care if it's gas or electric.)
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2023/06/24/7408365/
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Tuesday June 13 2017, @09:12PM (2 children)
I'm the guy on the motorcycle waving at you as you get stuck in Santa Monica, or Topanga, or...
(Score: 2) by VanessaE on Tuesday June 13 2017, @09:32PM (1 child)
And, we I in that area, I'd be the person who opens the door right in front of you as you try to go flying through traffic between the cars. ☺
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Tuesday June 13 2017, @09:43PM
I don't understand the death wish of the idiots splitting lanes 40MPH faster than the traffic.
I just go 10~15 between the stopped cars hoping they ACK seeing me, because the idiot on the phone (talking about how he/she's late) WILL do something stupid, since I don't do loud pipes.
It doesn't take a lot of speed to save a lot of time.
(Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Tuesday June 13 2017, @11:20PM
My gas car costs $3 to go 25 miles. My Nissan Leaf costs about 60 cents to go the same distance. Then there is maintenance -- my gas car just got a $2000 estimate for the engine cooling system and valve cover gasket. 75% of that is the cooling system. Neither of those problems are something my Leaf will ever experience.
(Score: 2) by looorg on Tuesday June 13 2017, @03:57PM (4 children)
Considering there are more then a billion (the exact number seems to be all over the place from about a billion up towards 1.2) motor vehicles on the roads in the world those 2 million electric vehicles don't seem that many. Still better then nothing but in the grand scheme of things they are still a very minor player in the vehicle market -- that somehow manages to get a lot of press.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday June 13 2017, @04:39PM (2 children)
Good point.
But things don't change overnight. It's a gradual change. You never can look back to one exact day when the change happened. But you can look back and realize that the change absolutely undeniably happened.
Pony express replaced by telegraph.
Telegraph replaced by telephone.
Homes with electricity were scarce at first and became more common.
Horse drawn carriages replaced by automobile. So much so that it changed the face of the world. There is now unbroken concrete from my doorstep to your doorstep.
Rail mostly replaced by trucking -- because those pesky roads went everywhere.
The rise of air travel.
In ancient times, most people used typewriters instead of word processors. There are still some typewriter users, just as there are some horse drawn carriages.
Things will change. Fossil fuel is getting harder and harder to find. This will eventually affect the price. Sunlight and wind are not going to run out. They may get more expensive, but they simply will not run out. (At least Trump hasn't thought of a way yet, or announced it.)
I'm sure these new fangled automobile thingies got a lot of press too. And their disadvantages. Why would anyone drive an automobile instead of a good ol' reliable horse drawn carriage? Automobiles are noisy. Smelly. Belch smoke. Difficult to start. If it backfires while you are cranking the engine, you could break your arm! Automobiles are unreliable, they don't always start, especially in damp weather. And worst of all -- and this is the one reason why these stupid automobile things will never become popular -- they frighten the horses!
You can't point to an exact day things changed. But Microsoft's best days are obviously behind it at this point. But who would have thought? (Hint: I did)
Is there a chemotherapy treatment for excessively low blood alcohol level?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 13 2017, @04:48PM
Not a good example as the Pony Express only operated for about a year.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 14 2017, @01:58AM
> Difficult to start. If it backfires while you are cranking the engine, you could break your arm!
A retired friend restored a 1906 buggy car, with the help of an Amish carriage builder for some of the wood and leather parts. He got tired of crank starting the engine and rigged up a starter-generator taken from a big lawn tractor. So now his 2-cylinder opposed engine car has electric start. It's a hoot to ride up above the SUVs, on 50" wheels (with solid rubber tires).
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday June 13 2017, @09:08PM
I was going to say: there's >2 million ICE vehicles on the road in this corner of my state.
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2023/06/24/7408365/
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 13 2017, @04:44PM (8 children)
Where is that road around the world? :-)
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Tuesday June 13 2017, @05:03PM (4 children)
The milky way, obviously.
Shorter: the Rainbow Road, but you need to watch out for green shells and bananas.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday June 13 2017, @09:12PM (2 children)
There's talk of an Alaska-Siberia tunnel... more talk than action as long as the super-cargo ship bridges are operating on cheap fossil fuel.
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2023/06/24/7408365/
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Tuesday June 13 2017, @09:18PM (1 child)
Better be a train tunnel, because to reach either end by road, in the bloody middle of snowy nowhere, you can either pay truckers a lot, or figure out how many autonomous cars are really ready for ice-on-dirt roads.
Tough business case for so many billions, and a gateway for EVVIIIILL asians...
Not selling my stock in Korean shipyards yet.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday June 14 2017, @12:55AM
Me, either. I think the proposals are for trains, of course with cars-on-trains as one possible configuration.
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2023/06/24/7408365/
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 13 2017, @11:12PM
Rainbow Road?! Fuck that map. >:-(
I've fallen off that son of a bitching thing more in one or two races than on all other maps combined.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday June 13 2017, @05:05PM (1 child)
I believe the meaning was: in locations around the world, there are more than X electric vehicles in total.
Is there a chemotherapy treatment for excessively low blood alcohol level?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 13 2017, @05:10PM
Whoosh!
(Score: 2) by looorg on Tuesday June 13 2017, @06:18PM
Doc told me that where we are going we don't need no road.
(Score: 2) by tibman on Tuesday June 13 2017, @07:27PM (2 children)
I'd love to get one but there are really only a few that have over 150 mile (240km) range. Chevy Bolt and a Telsa (all of them). Of those few cars, only the Bolt and Tesla Model 3 fit my budget. Of those, only the Bolt is purchasable. So you get the Bolt or you get another ICE car/truck? Sucks.
SN won't survive on lurkers alone. Write comments.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 13 2017, @08:15PM
Most commutes are way less than that.
(Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Tuesday June 13 2017, @11:25PM
Have you considered the Volt -- a little over 50 miles pure electric and then the gas engine kicks in. It isn't merely a range extender like you find on BMW's electric but rather, a true plug-in hybrid with more than a token amount of electric range. http://www.chevrolet.com/volt-electric-car [chevrolet.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 14 2017, @05:00AM (1 child)
If your precious EV is chugging on coal power then you're probably causing more pollution than the SUV next to you...
(Score: 2) by RedBear on Wednesday June 14 2017, @03:02PM
False. Proven false by every study done in the last decade. Google it. In every state in the US, no matter how dirty the local grid is, EVs are cleaner in terms of both carbon dioxide and particulate pollution. Anywhere from 10% to 90% cleaner. Yes, that is wells-to-wheels, including the energy used to mine the raw materials and manufacture the vehicles, and including the pollution released when the vehicles are scrapped and/or recycled. Furthermore, only EVs get cleaner as the grid gets cleaner, and of course many EV owners install solar and/or wind, or somehow source clean energy specifically to charge their EV.
I feel like I'm going to die of old age before people will stop baselessly guessing that EVs somehow magically pollute more than fossil fuel vehicles. It's never been true and it's getting less true every year as we shut down coal plants and install more renewable energy.
¯\_ʕ◔.◔ʔ_/¯ LOL. I dunno. I'm just a bear.
... Peace out. Got bear stuff to do. 彡ʕ⌐■.■ʔ