Japan has recently pledged to be carbon neutral by 2050, joining a growing list of countries aiming to stave off the worst effects of climate change. The announcement was made by Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga who said that the country’s strategic goal is to go electric with its transportation system – signaling a tectonic shift in the way cars will be manufactured in the coming decades in this heartland of Toyota, Honda, Nissan, et.al.
Carbon neutral means balancing carbon emissions by also removing carbon from the atmosphere. Japan joins the European Union, which previously said it aims to be carbon neutral in that same timeline. Japan set its goal a decade sooner than China, which pledged last month to be carbon neutral by 2060. “Responding to climate change is no longer a constraint on economic growth,” Suga said according to Reuters. “I declare we will aim to realize a decarbonized society.”
While the Philippine car industry is heavily invested in internal combustion engines, the signs are there that the future is all about direct-drive electric motors. It may not be for this current crop of motorists which I and my generation belong but the data and evidence in the global motoring sector as well as in car manufacturing as a whole, point inevitably to the time when our children and our grandchildren will be on cars that are plugged to a charging socket rather than “gassed up” as we do today.
The Market Reports World in a statement said, “The global Electric Vehicles (On Road) market is anticipated to rise at a considerable rate during the forecast period, between 2020 and 2024.
This 2020, the market has been growing at a steady rate and with the rising adoption of strategies by key players, the market is expected to rise over the projected horizon. The Global Electric Vehicles (On Road) market competition by top manufacturers are Tesla, Honda Motor, Nissan Motor Corporation, Ford Motor Company and Toyota Motor Corporation. Note that Japanese manufacturers lead the global car sales so whatever happens in Japan, will undoubtedly reverberate around the world.
Historically the pro and con arguments about electric cars have been about mass distribution, energy conservation and lack of emissions. But increasingly it’s about performance. And the electric car is coming out on its own to compete if not better its gas-guzzling counterparts. Tesla, which has pioneered and succeeded in attracting the motoring public to its battery powered cars, is coming up with a 1,000-horsepower engine for its cars and a recently announced pickup model.
The crème de la crème of high-performance and German technology, BMW, is also fast coming into its own with its electric versions of the 3-series, 5-series, 7-series, and X1, but, more importantly, on an electric M5 packing up to 1,000 horsepower. The new M5, supposedly also with electric and plug-in-hybrid models, will debut in 2024 according to reports. The electric M5 will reportedly utilize three 335-hp electric motors, one driving the front wheels and two in the rear. The total output will be around 1,000 horsepower. Its closest competitors in the high-end market is the Porsche Taycan’s Turbo S, which has two electric motors that produce 750 horsepower, and the Tesla Model S Performance that makes 778 horses from its two electric motors. With the electric M5, BMW might just be the quickest four-door car in the next few years.
If that is not an amazing enough argument for EV’s ascendency in the horizon, how about the case of Harley-Davidson, the legendary manufacturer of big bikes and centerpiece of biker culture coming out with an electric bicycle that is meant to outshine all other electric bikes out there. Harley-Davidson has spun off a new electric-bike startup called Serial 1 Cycle Company that will “really made a pretty aggressive push into electric vehicles and came out and made a statement that they want to lead the electrification of two-wheeled vehicles”. According to a company director, “The moment is right for e-bikes. Lithium-ion batteries are getting better, they’re getting lighter, they’re getting more reliable, they’re getting less expensive.”
A city bike—ridden casually, to run errands locally could be as efficient as a gas-guzzling car does. Electric bike sales are also quickly growing, especially during the pandemic. (In June, e-bike sales were up 190% over the previous year). So, there you have it dear motorists, either on four wheels or two –there is an EV waiting for yours and ours – our children and their children’s children towards a more sustainable and greener future.
Peachy Vibal – Guioguio is a PR strategist who has lead communications departments in GMA Network, ABS-CBN, and TV5. She enjoys long drives, taking scenic routes, and finds a thrill going wherever she pleases behind a wheel. She has yet to learn how to replace a flat tire.