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As part of the research for my research paper “On the Threshold to a New Energy Age“, I conducted a survey in order to find out how “prepared” people are for the transition to a new age of energy generation and use as well as to gather opinions on current trends in energy issues.

This is the second post of the question-by-question analysis of the survey results:

Question 3: Will electric cars outnumber conventional cars within the next 25 years?

Even tough slightly more than half of the people I surveyed do not expect electric cars to outnumber conventional cars within the next quarter century, I have no doubt that there will be an enormous market for electrically powered vehicles as soon as they become available in large quantities, at an affordable price and with a sufficient driving range.

Question 4: Would you buy an electric car if it were sufficient for you daily use?

90 percent of respondents said they were willing to buy an electric car if it were sufficient for their daily use. As I’ve said before, electric cars have huge potential. In the course of the creation of my research paper “On the Threshold to a New Energy Age“, I came to the conclusion that next to the high initial purchase price, the limited driving range of all-electric vehicles was the main reason the majority of people still don’t consider electric cars a viable alternative to gasoline-powered cars. The good news is that both hindrances can be overcome as technology advances and the benefits of mass production bring down production costs. Range won’t be an issue anymore in the future, since advancing battery technology, other energy storage media and the construction of a recharging infrastructure (electricity sockets in the parking lots of shopping centers, fast food restaurants or office buildings, quick-charging stations in downtown areas and along major highways) will enable drivers to recharge their cars’ batteries cheaply and conveniently at many locations and at the same time, can drive further on a single charge.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 12th, 2010 at 1:59 PM and is filed under RP: New Energy Age. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.