A study led by the Queensland University of Technology suggests that petrol-powered vehicles will still dominate the Australian car market in the year 2030 despite the growing concern of carbon emissions and its potential impact on the environment.
The conclusion is based on a survey of academics, industry leaders, and government representatives throughout Australia and several countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
The Australian respondents predicted that with prices for petrol fueled cars remaining relatively stable at today's prices, petrol will still be the most popular fuel source in 2030.
However, with prices for alternatively powered vehicles (hybrid, battery and biofuel) expected to drop by up to 25% they will also increase their market share:
the experts believe hybrid vehicles will increase their market share from today's 3.8% to 24.2% in 2030, while that of battery powered vehicles will increase from 0.3% to 15.9% over the same period.
The market share of diesel powered vehicles is predicted to drop to 15.2%.
For all fuel types the experts expect increases in efficiency. Notably in the battery electric-powered vehicles efficiency gains could exceed 50%.