Move from fossil fuel accelerates

Two events this week signalled a step change in the pace at which electric vehicles are taking to the road. Elon Musk announced that Tesla’s first mass-market Model 3 car will start rolling off production lines ready for launch at the end of July. That was followed by Volvo’s pledge on Tuesday that the Swedish car maker will cease manufacturing combustion engine-only vehicles altogether by 2019. Thenceforth, every Volvo model will be powered solely by batteries or by a battery/petrol hybrid.

Less than 1% of cars on the road today are electric powered. What is significant, and the context in which Volvo’s declaration was made, is the rate at which that is changing. Electric car sales were up 42% in 2016, about eight times faster than growth in the overall market.

There is a healthy debate within the motor and energy industries as to whether battery-powered vehicles or fuel-cell cars, powered by hydrogen, represent the future. The latter are behind in their evolution, held back by (among other things) the energy-inefficient process used to extract hydrogen for fuel. Either way, it is possible to foresee a future where fossil fuels play a limited role in personal transport.

We are still far from realising the broader dream of a green, low-carbon economy. Nonetheless, it is becoming ever easier to envisage a world with strong economic growth alongside cleaner air, lower carbon emissions and less dependence on oil. The rate at which green technologies are being adopted has far exceeded the expectations of many experts, bringing hope that US President Donald Trump’s nostalgic affair with fossil fuels will represent an aberration rather than a reversal in global efforts to tackle climate change.

To witness an established group like Volvo calling time on the combustion engine represents a milestone — and should encourage companies and governments to charge ahead. London, July 6.