A gassy journey... Car, truck, ship, train, bus, or plane — burning gas is usually required to get from Point A to Point B. Not-so-wild stat: transportation is the largest contributor of GHG emissions in the US (28% of the total). The solution is simple, but also complicated: reduce reliance on fossil fuels.
Turn me on with your electric wheel... The world is far from ditching gas entirely, but companies are laying the groundwork for an electric future.
Consumer EVs: GM set an ambitious 2035 target for phasing out gas vehicles from its lineup. Volkswagen said it'll slash the cost of batteries (the priciest part of EVs) by up to 50% by 2030, making them cheaper than gas cars. Tesla delivered a record-breaking 180K cars last quarter. Nio (aka: the "Tesla of China") said deliveries more than doubled to ~45K.
Business EVs: Amazon ordered 100K electric vans from Rivian, the largest order of delivery EVs ever. It's promising to become carbon neutral by 2040. GM unveiled a futuristic delivery solution, complete with electric pallets and a fresh fleet of e-vans. FedEx pledged to replace 100% of its mail fleet with battery-powered vehicles by 2040. Meanwhile, Tesla, Nikola, and Volvo are working on electric semi trucks for long hauls.
Electric planes (?!): Airbus is working on alternative propulsion systems for e-planes, laying the groundwork for zero-emission flights.
Policy is powerful... And it's moving the needle for sustainable transportation (and the companies behind it). Major governments — from CA, to Japan, to the UK — have said they'll start to ban the sale of new gas-powered vehicles in the 2030s. Meanwhile, President Biden's $2.3T infrastructure proposal includes EV rebates and a network of 500K electric vehicle chargers. Government incentives for buying green could accelerate the move away from fossil fuels.