During a talk at the National Governors Association on Saturday, Elon Musk shared a bold prediction for the future of personal transportation. Not only does he believe that half the cars produced in the United States just 10 years from now will be electric, he thinks almost all cars produced by then will be autonomous.
“In 10 years, half of all production will be EV," he told the governors. "I think almost all cars produced will be autonomous in 10 years, almost all. It will be rare to find one that is not, in 10 years.”
While EVs and autonomous cars will comprise a bulk of new vehicles, however, that doesn't mean they will be the majority on the roads. "New vehicle production is only about five percent of the size of the vehicle fleet," Musk explained, and because a car or truck can last for 15 to 20 years, it will take some time for the old to be replaced by the new. "Even when new vehicle production switches over to electric or autonomous...that still means the vast majority of the fleet is not," he noted.
Musk estimated that we'll have to wait a bit longer before we see a significant change in the types of vehicles on the road, but two decades from now, he expects an overwhelming portion of vehicles to be electric and fully autonomous.
The shift won't be limited to cars and trucks, either. He predicts that eventually "all transport will go fully electric" with the exception of spacecraft.
Musk is at the forefront of this driverless and electric revolution. Tesla recently began production on their Model 3, which is poised to make electric vehicles more affordable, and the company's cars have been breaking EV industry records for hypermiling and cannonball runs.
Tesla's progress has spurred their competitors into action, with other industry leaders like Volvo making the decision to go all electric. If the trend continues, Musk's predictions could prove true and we could be just a few short years from entering the age of electric, autonomous vehicles.
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