Electric Cars, they are here to stay!

Electric vehicles (EVs) use one or more electric or traction motors for propulsion and include road, rail, aircraft, spacecraft, above-water, and underwater vehicles. EVs are powered by either electricity contained within the vehicle itself or externally supplied power sources. EVs may be equipped with batteries, solar panels, fuel cells, or electric generators for converting fuel into electricity.

EVs generally consist of a basic series of components to function, including a battery, charge port, DC/DC converter, electric traction motor, onboard charger, power electronics controller, thermal cooling system, traction battery pack, and electric transmission.

Worldwide, 6.6 million plug-in electric cars were sold in 2021, more than doubling 2020 sales, and achieving a market share of 9% of the global new car market. All-electric cars represented 71% of plug-in car sales in 2021. As of December 2021, 16 million plug-in electric cars were on the world's roads. Many countries have established government incentives for plug-in electric vehicles, tax credits, subsidies, and other non-monetary incentives while several countries have legislated to phase-out sales of fossil fuel cars, to reduce air pollution and limit climate change.

The Tesla Model 3 became the world's all-time best-selling electric car in early 2020, and in June 2021 became the first electric car to pass 1 million global sales. Together with other emerging automotive technologies such as autonomous driving, connected vehicles and shared mobility, electric cars form a future mobility vision called Autonomous, Connected, Electric and Shared (ACES) Mobility.

Modern electric cars

In the early 1990s the California Air Resources Board (CARB) began a push for more fuel-efficient, lower-emissions vehicles, with the ultimate goal of a move to zero-emissions vehicles such as electric vehicles. In response, automakers developed electric models. These early cars were eventually withdrawn from the U.S. market, because of a massive campaign by the US automakers to discredit the idea of electric cars.

California electric-auto maker Tesla Motors began development in 2004 of what would become the Tesla Roadster, first delivered to customers in 2008. The Roadster was the first highway-legal all-electric car to use lithium-ion battery cells, and the first production all-electric car to travel more than 320 km (200 miles) per charge.

Better Place, a venture-backed company based in Palo Alto, California, but steered from Israel, developed and sold battery charging and battery swapping services for electric cars. The company was publicly launched on 29 October 2007 and announced deployment of electric vehicle networks in Israel, Denmark and Hawaii in 2008 and 2009. The company planned to deploy the infrastructure on a country-by-country basis. In January 2008, Better Place announced a memorandum of understanding with Renault-Nissan to build the world's first Electric Recharge Grid Operator (ERGO) model for Israel. Under the agreement, Better Place would build the electric recharge grid and Renault-Nissan would provide the electric vehicles. Better Place filed for bankruptcy in Israel in May 2013. The company's financial difficulties were caused by mismanagement, wasteful efforts to establish toeholds and run pilots in too many countries, the high investment required to develop the charging and swapping infrastructure, and a market penetration far lower than originally predicted.

The Mitsubishi i-MiEV, launched in 2009 in Japan, was the first highway-legal series production electric car, and also the first all-electric car to sell more than 10,000 units. Several months later, the Nissan Leaf, launched in 2010, surpassed the i MiEV as the best selling all-electric car at that time.

Starting in 2008, a renaissance in electric vehicle manufacturing occurred due to advances in batteries, and the desire to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and to improve urban air quality. During the 2010s, the electric vehicle industry in China expanded greatly with government support. The subsidies introduced by the Chinese government will however be cut by 20 to 30% and phased out completely before 2023. Several automakers marked up the prices of their electric vehicles in anticipation of the subsidy adjustment, including Tesla, Volkswagen and Guangzhou-based GAC Group, which counts Fiat, Honda, Isuzu, Mitsubishi, and Toyota as foreign partners.

In July 2019 US-based Motor Trend magazine awarded the fully-electric Tesla Model S the title "ultimate car of the year". In March 2020 the Tesla Model 3 passed the Nissan Leaf to become the world's all-time best-selling electric car, with more than 500,000 units delivered; it reached the milestone of 1 million global sales in June 2021.

The global stock of both plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and battery electric vehicles (BEVs) has grown steadily since the 2010s.

Sales of passenger electric vehicles (EVs) indicate a trend away from gas-powered vehicles.

In the third quarter of 2021, the Alliance for Automotive Innovation reported that sales of electric vehicles had reached six percent of all US light-duty automotive sales, the highest volume of EV sales ever recorded at 187,000 vehicles. This was an 11% sales increase, as opposed to a 1.3% increase in gasoline and diesel-powered units. The report indicated that California was the US leader in EV with nearly 40% of US purchases, followed by Florida – 6%, Texas – 5% and New York 4.4%.

Electric companies from the Middle East have been designing electric cars. Oman's Mays Motors have developed the Mays i E1 which is expected to begin production in 2023. Built from carbon fibre, it has a range of about 560 km (350 miles) and can accelerate from 0–130 km/h (0–80 mph) in about 4 secs. In Turkey, the EV company Togg is starting production of its electric vehicles. Batteries will be created in a joint venture with the Chinese company Farasis Energy.

Electric vehicle manufacturing

There are a number of companies producing electric vehicles, from mainstream producers to small businesses creating made-to-order vehicles. Tesla, by market value and vehicle output, is the largest electric-only car maker; however, a number of car manufacturing incumbents known for gasoline and diesel engines have made their way into the electric vehicle market.

Electric vehicle batteries

Electric vehicles rely on batteries that are capable of driving long distances, and as a result, there is healthy competition to create better batteries. Lithium-ion batteries make up the majority of the marketplace, due to larger charging banks that allow further distance between charges. As of 2018, commercially available electric vehicles were capable of driving 250 miles per charge, with the battery needing to be replaced, at a minimum, every eight years or 100,000 miles.

Electric vehicle conversion

Electric vehicle conversion is the conversion of a standard combustible engine on any given vehicle being converted to electric or hybrid functions. Various companies have been developed to convert pre-existing gas/diesel-powered vehicles to electric or hybrid engines.

Electric charging

As electric vehicles enter the market at an increasing rate, there is a greater public need for electric charging stations. These stations, similar to conventional gas stations, offer electrical power for a fee to recharge the vehicle during trips away from a home charger. The charging station market has been growing at an unprecedented rate due to private and public investment and is projected to reach USD$27.7 billion by 2027, compared with USD$2.5 billion in 2019.

Electric vehicle networking and communication

Electric vehicles are entering the market at a growing rate, creating an opportunity for an electric vehicle fleet to communicate and reduce overall energy expenditure. Many electric vehicles offer autonomous capabilities, enabling them to work in sync to detect and react to hazardous conditions and obstacles across an entire network. These opportunities pose a technological challenge and market competition to create an effective, efficient, and safe communication system between electric vehicles.

Formula E, officially the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, is a single-seatermotorsport championship for electric cars. The series was conceived in 2011 in Paris by then FIA president Jean Todt and Spanish businessman Alejandro Agag, who is also the current chairman of Formula E Holdings. The inaugural championship race was held in Beijing in September 2014. Since 2020, the series has FIA world championship status.