Electric cars on the cover of The Economist ... "The death of the internal combustion engine — It had a good run. But the end is in sight for the machine that changed the world":
- "The shift from fuel and pistons to batteries and electric motors is unlikely to take that long. The first death rattles of the internal combustion engine are already reverberating around the world."
- Why it matters: "Compared with existing vehicles, electric cars are much simpler and have fewer parts; they are more like computers on wheels. That means they need fewer people to assemble them and fewer subsidiary systems from specialist suppliers.
- "With less to go wrong, the market for maintenance and spare parts will shrink. While today's carmakers grapple with their costly legacy of old factories and swollen workforces, new entrants will be unencumbered."