Electric Vehicles Reach Critical Inflection Point in Europe and China A global study published in Nature Communications by researchers from the University of Exeter, University of Macau, and the World Bank reveals that electric vehicles (EVs) in Europe and China have crossed a critical threshold, making a return to conventional fuel-based transportation increasingly difficult. While internal combustion engines (ICEs) are unlikely to disappear entirely in the near future, the shift toward electrification in these regions has entered a phase where market dynamics and industrial investments are driving irreversible change. The study analyzed sales data from 32 countries between 2016 and 2023, highlighting that EV adoption in Europe and China has reached a "positive critical point." This transition is not solely driven by declining fuel costs but also by the scale of industrial investment in electric platforms, batteries, software, and manufacturing infrastructure. As automakers pour billions into these areas, the economic viability of reverting to traditional ICE production models has become increasingly unattractive. Global EV and hybrid vehicle fleets have been doubling every 1.5 years on average, with Europe and China leading the charge. In the European Union, sales of EVs have doubled every 1.3 years, while China’s market has seen a doubling every year. The United States lags behind, with no clear evidence of a dominant EV transition yet. Meanwhile, the decline in ICE sales has persisted even after the post-pandemic economic rebound, signaling a systemic shift rather than a temporary trend. Recent data from 2026 reinforces this trend. In the first quarter of that year, battery-electric vehicles accounted for 19.4% of the EU market, up from 15.2% in 2025. The combined share of ICE vehicles dropped to 30.#china #world_bank #university_of_macau #university_of_exeter #eu_union
Joshua Ehrlich on the East India Company and the Politics of Knowledge The East India Company and modern tech giants like Google share a common thread: both have framed themselves as champions of knowledge. In the late 1990s, Google’s founders declared their mission to “organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” Two centuries earlier, the East India Company used similar rhetoric to justify its colonial rule, positioning itself as a promoter of learning and enlightenment. Historian Joshua Ehrlich, associate professor at the University of Macau, explores this parallel in his book The East India Company and the Politics of Knowledge, which examines how knowledge became a tool of political power during the Company’s rule in India. Ehrlich’s work reveals that colonial officials viewed scholarship as a means to secure their authority. By patronizing Indian scholars and British intellectuals, they sought to legitimize their governance. This strategy, known as “conciliation,” was central to the Company’s approach. Warren Hastings, the Company’s governor of Bengal, was a key architect of this policy. Despite his controversial reputation, Hastings leveraged Enlightenment ideals to argue that knowledge production was the Company’s responsibility. He employed Indian scholars, commissioned translations of legal texts, and established a madrassa in Calcutta. These actions not only strengthened the Company’s administrative control but also won him allies among Indian elites, some of whom later defended him during his impeachment trial in Britain. Hastings’ conciliation strategy drew on Indian traditions of tolerance, such as Akbar’s policy of sulh-i kull (“universal peace”).#joshua_ehrlich #university_of_macau #east_india_company #warren_hastings #william_jones
