The emergence of e-cars

Every car will be electric by the year 2031.

This is the prediction of a man who knows a thing or two about transport.

Sir Richard Branson launched Virgin Atlantic Airways in 1984 and Virgin Trains in 1993 and his DS Virgin Racing is one of the FIA Formula E motorsport series teams for electric cars.

He thinks that the next generation of new motorists will be given a choice of electric, electric and, well, electric cars.

That’s because e-cars will monopolise the UK’s roads by then, Sir Richard claims.

Electric dreams?
With figures from the International Energy Agency showing that the proportion of e-cars around the world numbered just one in 1,000 last year, you could be easily forgiven for assuming that Sir Richard’s claim is just an electric dream.

But the experts’ forecasts back up his assertion that the world’s roads are going to change rapidly and markedly in the years ahead.

For example:

• The Electric Vehicles Initiative (EVI) aims to have 20 million e-cars around by the start of the next decade. This would increase their presence to around one in 60 vehicles

• A Bloomberg study predicts that e-cars will make up one in three vehicles by 2040 and reach 41 million

• The same report says cost will be a major driver. It believes that traditional fuel-based cars will actually be more expensive than e-cars as the price of batteries goes down

Political power
The Virgin founder thinks that such predictions underestimate the pace of the e-car revolution if the political will is there.

He says most cars could be battery-powered by 2026 and all cars by 2031 if the Government sets such targets.

Writing for his Virgin blog he says the era where everyone drives an e-car will be soon upon us.

Sir Richard was writing after the season’s last FIA Formula E street race on Sunday (10^th July).

He tested out the new DS E-Tense concept e-supercar and says this is ironically one that all petrolheads would like to drive in the future.

Oh, and for the record, Sir Richard’s DS Virgin Racing team finished third in the championship.