This column looks holistically at the ongoing energy transition being driven by what we’ll refer to as “exponential technologies.” These are the areas where price declines and performance improvements, enabled by rapid and global technological advances, have persisted for decades. These advances are still continuing, and over the last decade, many of these technologies have reached parity in terms of price/performance with existing solutions in the energy sector, further accelerating growth around the world. As can be expected, this has created massive disruption for many established sectors, such as electric utilities, vehicle manufacturers, and industry.
Let’s look at the questions around the electrification of transportation, including scooters, tuk-tuks, automobiles, trucks, ships, and planes. Along with the questions around the vehicles themselves, we will also look at the ecosystem that these vehicles are a part of, and the challenges and opportunities that the energy transition poses to the transportation sector. Myths and misconceptions abound, especially for cars, an area that most people feel connected to and feel they know about. This in turn makes it difficult to propose a path forward that is different from what their personal experience has shown them is the “right way.”
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