The Electric Car is Here to Stay.

Me, "Depending on what you read Lithium Ion battery technology costs of production have either stayed the same or have greatly come down in price. Whatever you want to believe, the fact is that either is good news. If battery production costs had gone up, the feasibility of an affordable electric car would have been nil. Instead there has been a great deal of investment in battery production and development, which means electric cars are not going away. The future will probably see the electric car take over from the internal combustion engine, (ICE) car. The positives of an electric car are more numerous than an ICE car and, donated, at the end of their electric car life batteries, can be reused in the electric grid. These positives lead me to believe we will have a future of electric self driving cars for either short or moderate trips around a few close states and a flying self driving electric car for longer trips. The future looks bright."


From article, "How much have electric-car battery costs fallen? This much!"

(High costs of lithium-ion battery cells have been one of the main hindrances to large-scale electric-car adoption, as they typically lead to higher purchase prices for electric cars than comparable internal-combustion models.

But electric-car battery prices are falling fast, according to one recent study.

Global Trends in Renewable Energy, calls the price drop in batteries for electric cars "spectacular."

DON'T MISS: Tesla starts cell production at Gigafactory, shows it off to investors

Citing improved chemistry, manufacturing processes and economies of scale, authors of the study (pdf) at the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management see a bright future ahead for electric cars.

According to the study, average electric-car battery costs declined every year between 2010 and 2015.

Between 2014 and 2015, average costs decreased by 35 percent.

In addition to cost reductions achieved through changes to cell chemistry and manufacturing processes, the study also notes cost decreases due to "aggressive pricing" by large battery manufacturers looking to defend their market share.

Tesla's opening of a massive "Gigafactory" in Nevada to provide greater economies of scale is also cited as a contributor.

The company began producing lithium-ion cells at the Gigafactory this month, using them for its Powerwall 2 and Powerpack 2 energy-storage battery packs.

ALSO SEE: How Much And How Fast Will Electric-Car Battery Costs Fall? (Mar 2012)

Tesla hopes to begin cell production for the Model 3 electric car in the second quarter of this year, and expects to be making 35 gigawatt hours of cells per year at the Gigafactory by 2018.

Global electric-car sales reached 462,000 units in 2015, up from 290,000 in 2014, according to the study.

While sales have steadily grown since modern electric cars first went on sale in large numbers about six years ago, predictions about future growth differ widely.

On the less-optimistic side, OPEC expects 1.7 million electric cars to be on world roads by 2020.

But Bloomberg New Energy Finance estimates that 7.4 million electric cars will be on the road by that time, with 2 million sold in 2020 alone.

MORE: Electric-car market share in 2020: estimates vary widely

Bloomberg also expects electric cars to make up 35 percent of light-duty vehicle sales by 2040.

It's unclear which prediction will prove closer to reality, but lower battery costs can only help the cause of electric-car adoption.)