With nearly a quarter of global greenhouse gas coming from all types of transportation, can we keep ourselves off gas-powered vehicles to avoid the worst effects? As more governments push for urgent action on climate change, quite a few companies are betting their future—that millions of consumers are finally ready for electricity-powered vehicles. Modern battery-powered cars are selling fast and zero-emission (排放) planes are coming. These changes, both leading to a more sustainable future, are reinventing how we get from here to there.
Cars and trucks are undergoing their greatest improvement since the automobile's (汽车) existence more than a century ago. Almost overnight, the era of the electric car has arrived. Electricity has the advantage that it works without smell and with less noise. Global annual sales of electric vehicles are expected to soar from just over 3 million today to 14 million by 2025. Just a month after Ford unveiled an electric version of the popular F-150, customers had reserved more than 100, 000 of them. The price is about $10, 000 above the gas-powered one, but Ford says the electric model will cost much less to maintain. Everything creating a green revolution on the ground is of limited help in the sky for the time being.
High-storage batteries are useless at present when it comes to the technological challenge of launching a few hundred people into the sky and carrying them thousands of miles. No battery yet invented can power, say, a Boeing 747 from New York to London. Promising improvements, however, do add up. Developments with zero-emission, battery-powered electric engines are already happening in commercial flight, involving trips of limited duration and distance. Airlines specializing in short journeys with small planes will lead the way to electric flight.
Our planet's health depends on zeroing out carbon dioxide emissions by 2050, and yet, by the timetable needed to address the climate challenge, the shift away from gas-powered vehicles remains far too slow. Nevertheless,the train has left the station. Someday, electric-powered transportation will be as common as air.
