"We've been thinking about this for several years now - we've had a look at a number of different approaches, and didn't have any success," one of the research team, Derek Tittensor, told BBC News.

“对这个问题，我们已经思考了几年——我们看到了各种各样的估计值，却没有取得任何成果。”研究团队的一员，Derek Tittensor对BBC News说。

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"The electric car will account for 10% of the global market in 10 years, " he told BBC News.

BBC: Nissan Leaf electric car to be built in Sunderland

"We all admire the beaver for the way it can turn a linear river into a lake with a dam, but the termites turning the desert into a pattern of oases that allow permanent life even in drought periods for hundreds of years - that's much more fascinating, " he told BBC News.

BBC: Termites 'engineer fairy circles'

Two years ago, Mr Fisker told BBC News he was initially gunning for annual sales of 15, 000, though over time, this should rise to hundreds of thousands of cars.

BBC: Henrik Fisker resigns from carmaker