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Real fear – the fear that an electric vehicle will not have enough battery power to reach its destination – forbids one of the biggest obstacles for widespread EV -acceptance. A survey held last year by the Associated Press-Norc Center for Public Affairs Research showed that that About half of our drivers Condemned this fear of being stranded as an important reason not to buy EV. But new research from China suggests that the solution to alleviate these worries may have more to do with trains than cars.
Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania recently analyzed the adoption of China, the for ten years push for electric vehicles (EV) and discovered that it coincided with the expansion of the land of high-speed rail. Regions with the fastest and most accessible rail networks also saw the highest increase in EV acceptance. In general, they note that High-Speed Rail increased the sales volume of EV by an average of 91 percent. Unlike in the US, reaching is much less a concern in China because most residents do not rely on EVs for long or even average distance trips. Instead, they mainly use them for local living work traffic. The researchers conclude that this strategy of “complementary infrastructure” is more effective than just EV subsidies or mandates. The findings are part of a Working paper published last month About the Penn Institute for Economic Research.
Where trains go, EVs follow
Few countries have accepted EV as easily as China. From the end of 2024, EVs accounted for 45 percent of the new vehicle purchases in the country. This is compared by only 25 percent and 11 percent for the European Union and the US. And although the Chinese government has played an active role in encouraging EVs through subsidies and other benefits for manufacturers, the same can be said of many governments elsewhere. In the US, Tesla reportedly benefited from as much as as much as $ 38 billion in government financing In the past two decades. Other countries such as Norway and Great -Britain have even drawn up plans Gradual vehicles from the internal combustion engine completely..
When researchers analyzed monthly vehicle registration data of 328 Chinese cities between 2010 and 2023, they saw a recurring variable that continued to pop up: the presence of newer high-speed rail. In recent decades, China has developed the world’s largest high-speed rail network. Nowadays it includes a combined 45,000 kilometers and connects 96 percent of Chinese cities with populations of more than 500,000. For the perspective, the researchers note that the China’s rail system is only good for around 70 percent of the total high -speed train in the world.
The parallel development of high-speed rail and new EVs enables many Chinese residents to leave cars with gas driven without worrying about the ability of their vehicle to handle long journeys. This reduced need for EVS with extended distance has also enabled Chinese car manufacturers to concentrate on producing smaller, less battery-intensive vehicles. As a result, Chinese EVs are usually more affordable Then many of those in other markets.
“If there are other ways to travel a long distance, you can go an hour to go with a fast rail-dan you will not worry about using your electric vehicle for that type of travel,” main investigator Hanming Fang said in a statement.
However, it is worth noting that this ‘complementary infrastructure’ may seem more planned afterwards. Fang says that the mutual benefit of EVs and HSR in China was more likely ‘a happy coincidence’. Yet that does not necessarily prevent others from learning and applying it themselves. In the US, for example, legislators have tried to tackle EV-Series fear by issuing billions to build up an extensive, national EV charging network. It’s not going great. Analyst estimates Show that the majority of our EV owners have also driven another car with gas in the case of longer journeys. That system of using two different cars is inherently limited to people in higher income brackets. It is also potentially at odds with the aim of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by leaving cars with gas driven. More high -speed train can help both problems solve.
America’s troubled relationship with trains
That goal is of course easier said than done. Lobby groups that represent car manufacturers and have fossil fuel companies for a long time to slow the efforts to expand the track. A deep -rooted car culture also leaves some Americans behind Less receptive to commuting trains Then residents of other countries. The current American president has that too Repeatedly criticized rail projects. But the most important thing is that the researchers notice that the US lacks the ability to build infrastructure at the same speed as China because of the decentralized government structure.
Related: [US finally breaks ground on its first-ever high-speed rail]
And yet some domestic things are being made. In 2023, private railway company Brightland completed a High Speed Rail line of 170 miles Connect Orlando with Zuid -Florida, a first of its kind for the state. The building is also underway on a $ 12 billion train that travelers from Los Angeles to Las Vegas can zoom in in less than two hours towards the end of the decade. Even Texas, which one Long, complicated history of failed rail projects, is Reportedly Coming in in a train that could connect Houston and Dallas one day. If those efforts are successful, it is possible that more EVs can follow closely.