Powering up electric vehicles: benefits and pitfalls

The coming wave of battery-powered vehicles is good news -- a step toward addressing concerns about climate change and oil dependence. But electric vehicles also present new challenges for electricity providers, utility companies, smart grid and charging startups and traditional oil companies.
Converging factors, such as radical cost reductions in lithium-ion batteries, are pushing us toward an "electrification tipping point" when electric vehicles will become economically viable for the masses. By 2020 electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids could account for nearly 10 per cent of new vehicle sales globally. By 2030 this figure could accelerate to about 30 per cent, with an additional 20 per cent of hybrid vehicles using batteries.
The market is still young, but automakers are committing to electric vehicle technology. Several electric vehicles will be introduced in the coming year, including Nissan's Leaf and the Chevy Volt.
Electric-powered vehicles will create significant growth across the entire transportation value chain, expected to reach nearly $300 billion by 2020, according to global management consultant firm PRTM (my employer). This rapidly growing market will drive a shift in revenue pools from natural resources like oil toward high-tech components like the battery.

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