By 2017, there will be 5.2 million plug in hybrid and all-electric vehicles on the road worldwide, says Pike Research. Add in 8.7 million hybrid vehicles, and the total population of electrified autos in the world is set to increase 46-fold from the measly 114,000 that currently ply our roads.
Despite this explosive growth, that will represent only 3 percent of the total population of light-duty vehicles in the world in 2017. (We have a lot. Of. Cars.) But project that out to 2030, which is when some energy analysts project the world's oil exporting countries will stop shipping the stuff overseas, and I guess that's about how many of us will still be driving automobiles instead of, say, mule carts.
