(Photo : PublicDomainPictures on Pixabay) (Photo : Pixabay) (Photo : Pixabay) According to a recent report from the University of California, Berkeley, this scenario will dramatically change this decade, with the upfront cost of electric cars expected to hit parity with gasoline vehicles in about five years. By 2050, accelerated electrification of transportation will save over $2.7 trillion in driver costs because electric cars are more powerful and need less expensive maintenance. The researchers claimed that with the falling cost of batteries, which is a major factor in the higher cost of electric vehicles and increases in their reliability, the US will be able to phase out new gasoline and diesel cars within 15 years. This will reduce transportation-related global-warming emissions, which are now the primary source of greenhouse gases in the United States.