The technology of electric vehicles is poised to displace the internal combustion engine, but like all examples of technological displacement and diffusion, there are several conditions that must be met before people abandon familiar technologies for new ones: The new technology needs to have features that are superior to the old one; the new technology should be less expensive or at least no more expensive than the old one, and finally; the new technology must be at least as convenient as the old one. A century-old technology like the internal combustion engine is ripe for replacement, but a century of infrastructure and investment is not easily replaced.
Overcoming obstacles to electric vehicles: Charging stations and lower prices
