When we say that a vehicle is Euro 5 compliant, or will be Euro 6 compliant once it’s on the market and that new law comes into effect, here in Europe that actually means something quite significant. It means you can happily travel the town centres on days when they’re shut to more polluting traffic, you might get some big incentives for a new car and more importantly, you know you’re saving some precious euros on what is becoming more and more expensive fuel.

It may take some time before hybrid and electric cars make real inroads in the European car market but often there’s no easier way to stimulate uptake of something than to make sure it appeals to the hip pocket. Which is why, according to research figures, hybrid and electric cars on the US market will take longer to be adopted - because fuel is just too cheap there.

The figures above show that US fuel prices are the lowest of all the nations that were studied for this particular project. It appears that any economic argument for going electric in America is redundant giving the figures - why would you bother driving a car that might not appeal and having all the recharge hassle for just $813 savings every year?

While Autobloggreen says that the initial choice to go electric in the US will likely be driven by the desire to be environmentally responsible, we still think money smells stronger than fresh air. There’s no better way to get the project off the ground than making it more economical. Although we still haven’t seen a surge in electric sales in Europe so maybe we’re a way off yet. But rest assured that if people can make enough of a saving, they’ll switch.

Source | Autobloggreen

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