Publication: Electric Buses: Why Now?
Date
2020-01
ISSN
Published
2020-01
Author(s)
Graham, John
Abstract
There is a quiet revolution underway in
a previously sleepy segment of the transport sector: the
electrification of municipal buses and other intra-city
vehicles. As McKinsey reported last October, the compound
annual growth rate of battery-electric buses has exceeded
100 percent since 2013- surpassing that of every other
electric vehicle segment. Investing in battery-electric
buses - as well as other high-use vehicles, such as
e-delivery trucks - is an effective way for International
Finance Corporation (IFC) to move the needle on air quality
and greenhouse emissions from urban transportation. The
opportunity is massive, and IFC has the capacity to
fast-track implementation. It’s time to hit the accelerator.
A cocktail of technology, investment, and scale in electric
buses (and other high-use intra-city electric vehicles) will
soon reach a point where reliability and cost advantages
create the death spiral for internal combustion engines.
Superior technology and declining costs will eventually
overwhelm the old, static, diesel driven transportation paradigm.
Citation
“Graham, John. 2020. Electric Buses: Why Now?. IFC Transport Insights;. © International Finance Corporation, Washington, DC. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/33640 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”