ELECTRIC vehicles (EVs) have existed as an idea for close to 200 years - the first crude electric carriage appeared in the US in 1832 - and have been a reasonably practical concept since the beginning of the 20th century. It has only been within the past five years or so, however, that EVs have begun to be considered as a legitimate, if not yet necessarily superior, alternative to conventional gas- or diesel-powered vehicles to the extent that an end to the dominance of the internal combustion engine can be foreseen.

In the bigger economies in Europe, and in India and Singapore here in Asia, policymakers have even been able to put a date on that. The Netherlands and Norway intend to end the sale of vehicles with internal combustion engines by 2025; Germany and India, by 2030; and France, the UK and Singapore will phase them out by 2040. China is reportedly considering a similar ban although no timeline has been suggested yet; many other countries have set goals for EVs as a proportion of total vehicle sales by 2030, with the average target being about 30 percent.