28/12/2025
Interesting read
https://www.facebook.com/share/15TdnammMfg/?mibextid=wwXIfr
The electric vehicle revolution is no longer a question of "if," but of "how fast" — and the answer, as we stand at the close of 2025, is unmistakably fast. Electric vehicles have decisively won the technological and economic contest against internal combustion engines.
What remains is the inevitable unwinding of the old system, a process already gathering real momentum beneath the surface of daily headlines.Consider the numbers that define this moment. Globally, more than a quarter of all new cars sold in 2025 have been electric, a milestone once projected for the end of the decade. In China — the world's largest auto market — plug-in vehicles have surged past 50% of new sales for multiple months, with full-year expectations hovering around 60%.
Emerging markets from Vietnam and Singapore (nearing 40%) to Thailand and Indonesia are leapfrogging traditional adoption curves, often powered by affordable Chinese imports. Even in Europe, despite policy turbulence, the share hovers in the mid-20s. And then there is Norway, the clearest glimpse of the future: with new car registrations routinely exceeding 95% electric and some months pushing 97-98%, the country has effectively rendered gasoline and diesel options marginal relics in showrooms.
This dominance did not arrive by accident. It stems from relentless, compounding improvements that have dismantled every major objection once leveled at EVs. Battery prices have continued their steep descent — falling another 8-13% in key markets this year alone, reaching record lows around $100/kWh globally and even lower in China — making upfront costs competitive and total ownership expenses decisively lower for most drivers. Ranges have stretched comfortably into the 300-500 kilometer territory for mainstream models, fast-charging has accelerated to levels that rival the time it takes to grab coffee, and real-world battery longevity now routinely exceeds a decade with minimal degradation.
The unfamiliarity and fear that once held people back are evaporating as millions experience the smoother ride, instant torque, and near-silent operation firsthand.Yet the true tipping point lies not in these technical advances, but in the self-reinforcing network effect they unleash. As electric cars claim ever-larger slices of new sales, demand for gasoline steadily erodes. Fuel stations, especially marginal or independent ones, face declining volumes that make them unprofitable.
Major oil companies are already pivoting — Shell alone has signaled plans to close or divest thousands of sites while pouring resources into charging infrastructure. In high-adoption regions like China and parts of Europe, analysts foresee accelerated closures beginning in the late 2020s, with many forecourts converting into multi-purpose hubs featuring fast chargers, convenience retail, and even solar canopies.
The fewer stations that remain will charge higher margins to cover fixed costs spread across shrinking sales, creating a vicious cycle: longer detours for refueling, greater inconvenience, plummeting resale values for ICE vehicles, and fewer mechanics specializing in their increasingly antique drivetrains.
For the millions who still own gasoline cars — and will continue to for another decade or more as the existing fleet ages out — this shift will feel gradual at first, then suddenly urgent. What was once effortless convenience will become a growing hassle: hunting for open pumps on road trips, paying premiums at the remaining stations, watching repair costs climb as parts become scarcer.
The market will do what markets do when a superior technology takes hold — it will quietly strangle the old one through inconvenience and economics rather than outright bans.None of this diminishes the very real challenges ahead: grid upgrades in lagging regions, equitable access in rural areas, and the geopolitical complexities of battery supply chains. But these are engineering and policy problems, not fundamental barriers.
The trajectory is clear and increasingly irreversible. Electric vehicles have not merely caught up; they have overtaken and begun to reshape the entire automotive landscape. The petrol era, for all its century-long run, is entering its twilight — not with a dramatic bang, but with the steady, unstoppable click of chargers replacing nozzles, one station closure and one new EV sale at a time.
The future is electric, and it has already arrived.
📸 Tesla charging station outside Traralgon RSL.
