DETROIT : The past year was sobering for investors who poured money into Tesla Inc and rival electric vehicle startups that hoped to emulate Tesla CEO Elon Musk's success.
The automobile industry is pouring more than $1 trillion into a revolutionary shift from combustion engines to electric vehicles guided by software. From Detroit to Shanghai, automakers and government policymakers have embraced the promise of electric vehicles to provide cleaner, safer transportation. European countries and California have set 2035 as the deadline for ending sales of new combustion passenger vehicles.
Industry executives and forecasters do not agree on how rapidly electric vehicles could take over half the global vehicle market, let alone all of it. By 2029, electric vehicles could account for a third of the North American market, and about 26 per cent of vehicles produced worldwide, according to AutoForecast Solutions, a consultancy.