Electric car fans relish the opportunity to demonstrate two photos taken 13 years earlier in New York City to show exactly how quickly things can change. One photo is of Fifth Avenue in the middle of the 1900 Easter march, where the road is lined with horses and buggies. The other photo, taken in 1913 at exactly the same time, shows that the parade is filled with the latest cars of that time and there are no horses or wagons in the image.

The change occurred quickly and widely and opened another period in the individual transportation system. He also broached the issue of what to do with city lanes covered in horse manure. EV devotees say a comparable wave of mechanical change isn’t far off with battery-controlled vehicles. The ecological advantage, they say, will be greater.

However, spoilers maintain that EVs have their own pollution problems and that the effect is simply being washed out of the brain.

Life cycle research shows that the battery produces a large amount of CO2, which is declining. There are a more remarkable number of waste and reprocessing issues that need to be resolved in the urgency of a world powered by lithium particle batteries.

Electric vehicles charged by coal-fired power plants may be less expensive to operate (30 cents per liter instead of $1.40), however they are more expensive to purchase and apparently result in less of an ecological advantage.

However, Behyad Jafari of the newly established Electric Vehicle Council says the negative scrutiny is too focused on the here and now. For supporters like government environment minister Josh Frydenberg, this is another iPhone moment: the cusp of shifting to another era.

Others warn that it could end up looking more like a mini CD or a 3-D TV.

Jafari says that governments in China and Europe are mandating a switch to battery-powered vehicles and that a well-known automaker, including GM, Hyundai, Mercedes, Volvo and VW, is currently organizing the switch.

He says the advantages are not intended to decrease CO2 gases. Gasoline and diesel cars produce toxic particles that cause respiratory problems and premature deaths.

Time advances and so do the needs of man. It doesn’t matter where you live in the world. We have to get on with the world. We have to face all upcoming challenges with these tech cars. Dealing with all these problems could be the worst nightmare, but we have to face it. This is what we call evolution.