Electric cars' bold ambition risks a race to nowhere

Sydney

ONCE upon a time, it was only Elon Musk making shoot-for-the-stars statements about the glittering future of electric cars. Now, even the most sober of his rivals are getting in on the act.

Chongqing Changan Automobile Co and BAIC Motor Corp, China's fourth- and fifth-largest automakers, announced in October and this month that they'll end deliveries of petroleum-powered cars by 2025.

A target for hybrids and electric vehicles (EVs) to be 90 per cent of Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd's sales by 2020 is still on track, according to a company presentation last week, despite making up about 1.5 per cent of the total in the first half.

It's not just China that's changing fast. One in four Daimler AG cars sold in 2025 will be electric, according to the company's research chief Ola Kallenius, and by 2030, the…