December 20, 2017

Here’s how electric vehicle adoption has grown worldwide [Infographic]

If you’re reading this, chances are you don’t need to be convinced that electric cars (especially Teslas) are the future. However, most of us often find ourselves having to explain what’s going on to less-enlightened friends, co-workers and relations. For those who read about electric vehicles only in the mainstream press, it’s easy to get the idea that they still “may not catch on,” or to become concerned about imaginary bugaboos like lithium shortages, exploding batteries, etc.

Above: The VW XL1, BMW i8, and Tesla Model S (Image: Stuff)

A picture is worth a thousand words, and a new infographic from Title Pro, a company that offers auto loans online, depicts the accelerating rise of e-mobility in an attractive and fun chart that’s easy to understand. If you don’t have the patience to educate your EV-clueless acquaintances, you could do worse than to show them this infographic.

Those who are just starting to learn about electric driving often fail to understand that the current generation of EVs has been evolving for a decade, and that electrification is not a US-only phenomenon, but is in fact proceeding at a faster pace in Europe and in China’s colossal auto market. Most people also aren’t aware of the large number of plug-in models available. This infographic covers all these bases, weaving a timeline of mobility milestones through a set of charts depicting the geographic spread of EVs and the top models on sale in the US.

Above: The Nissan Leaf and Tesla Model S charging in Oslo (Image: Wikipedia Commons)

No, this graphic was not created by EV experts - it contains a few minor inaccuracies and ambiguous statements - in particular, it fails to dispel the all-too-common confusion among hybrids, plug-in hybrids and pure EVs. However, it’s an accessible plug-in primer for those who are just learning of the existence of plug-in vehicles (and that’s a larger group of people than you might think).

It also has a certain dilettantish charm that, in a way, offers yet another sign of how far electrification has come. Even auto finance companies are finding it necessary to explain the rise of EVs to their customers these days, an indication that the e-mobility revolution is steadily spreading to every niche in the automotive ecosystem.