Thursday, December 8, 2011

ExxonMobil: Half of all vehicles will be hybrids by 2040

ExxonMobil: Half of all vehicles will be hybrids by 2040:

The 2012 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid, which retails for the same price as its conventional gasoline engine-only twin.


(Credit:
Lincoln)


You may or may not be a hybrid fan today, but by 2040 there's a one in two chance you'll be driving one.


ExxonMobil released its annual Outlook, which takes a look at the future of global energy demands and consumption, and forecasts that the global number of personal vehicles on the road will nearly double over the next few decades to to 1.6 billion cars. But to keep fuel demand and consumption in check, half of them will be hybrids.


Government fuel economy standards are the driving force that will make hybrids mainstream. Manufacturers are responding to increasing vehicle fuel efficiency requirements by producing electric, plug-in hybrid, and alternative fuel powerplants, but the most cost effective way to meet these goals is to use a hybrid powertrain. By 2040, hybrid vehicles will represent 50 percent of all vehicle sales, as opposed to 1 percent today. They'll also be the cheapest solution, says ExxonMobil.


Hybrid vehicles increase fuel efficiency by using a battery to power an electric motor that assists a conventional gasoline engine in propelling a vehicle. However, the additional equipment that makes the vehicles more efficient also makes them more expensive. By 2030, Exx... [Read more]

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