Tesla Roadster

• In some parts of the world, such as Norway, the percentage was a whopping 20%.
• In California, where I live, almost 60% of people looking for a car in 2021 said they would at least consider getting an EV.
• The key word here is “seemingly.” And the answer reveals an interesting history that most people are completely unaware of.
• When I ask students, “How long have EVs been commercially available?” most of them will answer five years, or 10, perhaps 20.

Electric vehicles and the long road to adoption

• Most people don’t know that they’ve been commercially available since as far back as the 1890s.
• Yes, that’s how long it’s been since that battle was first fought.
• Almost 40% of vehicles on the road in the early 1900s were electric.

The ‘cool factor’ − but so much more

• And they’re right: The Tesla Roadster did make EVs cool – if expensive, at over US$100,000 dollars at its launch in 2008.
• But there are many more factors that explain the rise in demand and, more importantly, broad adoption of EVs.
• One reason for the rise in demand starting in about 2010 is better and more widely available charging infrastructure.

Technology adoption: It takes a village − and time

• Technology adoption is influenced by what’s known as “peer effects” – the desire to compare oneself with others.
• The same is true, for instance, of solar panel adoption, another technology that, like EVs, has both personal and social benefits.
• Technology comes from the Greek word “techne,” which means a practice, a set of habits and a way to accomplish a goal.
• Without this alignment, new tech will sit on a shelf for a long time but never succeed – like EVs almost did.

Hovig Tchalian does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.