Paragraph 1

"The end of the age of the internal combustion engine is in sight."

Explanation: The era of petrol and diesel-powered engines is nearing its end.

"There are small signs everywhere, the shift to hybrid vehicles is already under way among manufacturers."

Explanation: Many car companies are already starting to produce hybrid vehicles, showing a shift in the industry.

"Volvo has announced it will make no purely petrol-engined cars after 2019."

Explanation: Volvo declared that from 2019 onward, all their cars will either be electric or hybrid.

"And Tesla has just started selling its first electric car aimed squarely at the middle classes."

Explanation: Tesla launched an affordable electric car targeting average-income consumers.

"The Tesla 3 sells for $35,000 in the US, and 400,000 people have put down a small, refundable deposit towards one."

Explanation: The Tesla Model 3 costs $35,000, and a large number of people have already shown interest by reserving one.

"Several thousand have already taken delivery, and the company hopes to sell half a million more next year."

Explanation: A few thousand units have been delivered, and Tesla aims to sell 500,000 more in the following year.

"This is a remarkable figure for a machine with a fairly short range and a very limited number of specialised charging stations."

Explanation: This level of sales is impressive considering the car’s limited driving range and the scarcity of charging points.

Paragraph 2

"Some of it reflects the remarkable abilities of Elon Musk, the company’s founder, as a salesman, engineer, and a man able to get the most out his factory workers and the governments he deals with."

Explanation: Elon Musk’s skills in selling, engineering, and managing people and authorities contribute to Tesla’s success.

"Mr. Musk is selling a dream that the world wants to believe in."

Explanation: Musk offers a vision of the future that resonates with global aspirations.

Paragraph 3

"This last may be the most important factor in the story."

Explanation: The appeal of Musk’s vision may be the key reason behind the electric car movement’s popularity.

"The private car is a device of immense practical help and economic significance, but at the same time a theatre for myths of unattainable self-fulfillment."

Explanation: While cars are useful and important economically, they also represent personal dreams and ideals.

"The one thing you will never see in a car advertisement is traffic, even though that is the element in which drivers spend their lives."

Explanation: Car ads avoid showing traffic, although that’s what real drivers often experience.

"Every single driver in a traffic jam is trying to escape from it, yet it is the inevitable consequence of mass car ownership."

Explanation: Everyone hates traffic, but it's an unavoidable result of too many people owning cars.

Paragraph 4

"The sleek and swift electric car is at one level merely the most contemporary fantasy of autonomy and power."

Explanation: Today’s electric cars symbolize modern desires for freedom and control.

"But it might also disrupt our exterior landscapes nearly as much as the fossil fuel-engined car did in the last century."

Explanation: Electric cars could reshape our environment just like petrol cars once did.

"Electrical cars would of course pollute far less than fossil fuel-driven ones; instead of oil reserves, the rarest materials for batteries would make undeserving despots and their dynasties fantastically rich."

Explanation: Electric cars are cleaner, but demand for rare battery materials could make corrupt leaders wealthy.

"Petrol stations would disappear. The air in cities would once more be breathable and their streets as quiet as those of Venice."

Explanation: With electric cars, petrol stations could vanish, air quality would improve, and streets would become quieter.

"This isn’t an unmixed good. Cars that were as silent as bicycles would still be as dangerous as they are now to anyone they hit without audible warning."

Explanation: However, quiet cars could be more dangerous to pedestrians because they make little noise.

Paragraph 5

"The dream goes further than that."

Explanation: The vision for the future of cars extends beyond just being electric.

"The electric cars of the future will be so thoroughly equipped with sensors and reaction mechanisms that they will never hit anyone."

Explanation: Future electric cars will have advanced technology to prevent accidents entirely.

"Just as brakes don’t let you skid today, the steering wheel of tomorrow will swerve you away from danger before you have even noticed it."

Explanation: Like modern brakes prevent skidding, future steering systems will react automatically to avoid hazards.

Paragraph 6

"This is where the fantasy of autonomy comes full circle."

Explanation: The idea of self-driving cars leads to a broader transformation in mobility.

"The logical outcome of cars which need no driver is that they will become cars which need no owner either."

Explanation: Driverless cars will eventually become shared vehicles, not personally owned.

"Instead, they will work as taxis do, summoned at will but only for the journeys we actually need."

Explanation: These cars will be like taxis—used when needed rather than owned all the time.

"This is the future towards which Uber is working."

Explanation: Uber is actively developing this model of car usage.

"The ultimate development of the private car will be to reinvent public transport."

Explanation: The personal car will evolve into a shared public transport system.

"Traffic jams will be abolished only when the private car becomes a public utility."

Explanation: Congestion will end only when people stop owning cars and start sharing them.

"What then will happen to our fantasies of independence? We’ll all have to take to electrically powered bicycles."

Explanation: If private car ownership disappears, people might turn to e-bikes to fulfill their desire for personal freedom.

Paragraph 1 Summary

The shift from internal combustion engines to electric vehicles is becoming evident, with companies like Volvo and Tesla leading the change. Tesla's success, despite technical limitations, highlights growing consumer interest in electric cars.

Paragraph 2 Summary

Elon Musk’s success with Tesla is largely due to his persuasive vision and ability to motivate both people and systems. He is selling an ideal future that resonates with global desires.

Paragraph 3 Summary

Cars represent not only practical tools but also personal dreams of freedom. However, the reality of traffic contradicts this fantasy, as it’s a direct outcome of widespread car ownership.

Paragraph 4 Summary

Electric cars, while cleaner, will bring new challenges, such as economic power shifts and silent road hazards. They might reshape cities as drastically as fossil-fuel cars once did.

Paragraph 5 Summary

Future electric cars will include advanced safety features, like automatic steering responses, making accidents nearly impossible and further automating the driving experience.

Paragraph 6 Summary

Driverless cars could lead to the end of car ownership, replacing private cars with shared, on-demand vehicles. This shift may reduce traffic but challenge our ideas of independence.