One in ten vehicles will be electric by 2035, study says

One in ten vehicles will be electric by 2035, study says

There will be from 5 million to 30 million electric vehicles on the road by 2035, depending on advances in battery technology, says a new study by a research arm of the Edison Foundation. In what Edison calls the medium scenario, 25 million out of 261 light-duty vehicles will be electric, Battery technology by then will cost less and perform better, the study predicts. The crescive price of oil will also drive electrification of the fleet.

In the near term, Chrysler will lose $10,000 on every Fiat 500e electric car it sells, CEO Sergio Marchionne told the Society of Automotive Engineers World Congress. The car, which can drive 87 miles on a single charge, will have an MSRP of $32,500 when it goes on sale this summer in California.

A 2008 MIT study looked at the feasibility of improving fuel economy in the next 30 years and concluded, No single technology development or alternative fuel can solve the problems of growing transportation fuel use and [greenhouse gas] emissions. Improved gasoline and diesel engines and transmissions, gasoline hybrids and vehicle lightweighting will all be needed in the near term, the study said. In the longer term, plug-in hybrids and hydrogen fuel cells may be part of the equation.