Tesla makes big leap for electric vehicles

At close of trading, Tesla's value was up 7.3% to $48.7bn (£38bn), while Ford's was $45.3bn. Tesla delivered 25,000 cars in the first quarter of 2017, an increase of 70% compared to the same quarter in 2017. In 2016, it delivered a total of 76,000 cars, which is dwarfed by Ford's output of 6.6 million vehicles globally.
It would seem that investors are betting on the new Tesla Model 3, which is yet to be released, to revolutionise the way that electric cars are viewed by buyers and give them the mass-market appeal that they have so far lacked.
Tesla has built a $5bn factory in Nevada and aims to cut the cost of batteries for both electric cars and for electricity storage in homes by 30%.
In the UK, 36,402 plug-in cars were sold in 2016 - around 1.3% of total sales. In the first two months of 2017, electric cars made up 1.5% of total sales, indicating that their popularity is growing.
Electric cars don't produce carbon dixide (CO2) emissions when they are driving, so they don't contribute directly to climate change. To be truly emissions-free though, they need to be recharged using energy from renewable sources like solar and wind power.

Photo: Tesla Model S by Luc.

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