Pros and Cons of Electric Vehicles
In the last couple of years, the number of electric vehicles is on the roads are increasing rapidly. According to the IEA’s Global Electric Vehicle Outlook2021, a record 3 million new electric vehicles were registered in 2020, a 41% increase from the previous year. Although the interest of users in electric vehicles has increased significantly over the years, electric vehicles are not so a new trend. In fact, in the 1830s in the U.S. and Europe, engineers were developing the first electric cars. Then, after Ford revolutionized the all-auto industry, vehicles with the typical gas engine became more mainstream.
There were 11 million registered electric vehicles on the road at the end of last year (Source: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/05/electric-vehicle-sales-sustainability-iea/) When we look at today’s industry, the biggest question is “are electric vehicles really better for the environment and the economy?” To answer that question, we need to analyze the advantages and disadvantages of electric vehicles.
Pros of Electric Vehicles:
There are plenty of pros of electric vehicles, such as electric vehicles have better performance, and they are running quieter than gas-powered cars. Moreover, the most important quality of electric vehicles is that they contain sustainability. By definition, sustainability is composed of economic, environmental, and social terms. Thus, other than their performance, the advantages of electric vehicles are mostly relevant in economic and environmental terms, so sustainability and these are the following.
Environmental Effects of Electric Vehicles:
Since electric vehicles rely on a rechargeable battery, they do not use an exhaust system, which helps not to create any emissions. Thus, despite the gas engines, electric vehicles can help to achieve clean air and less greenhouse effect. Another environmental effect of electric vehicles is that they can be fueled naturally by renewable resources such as solar wind etc. On the other hand, even though gasoline is a natural resource, it cannot be renewable. So, prosumers can install solar power system on the roof of their home and charge their car in their garage by professionally installed charger which will cost around $800 — $2,000 (https://jolt.com.au/cost-to-charge-electric-vehicle).
Economic Effects of Electric Vehicles:
As everybody knows, electricity is cheaper than gasoline. So, electric vehicles cost less than gas-powered ones. Also, maintenance and repairs of electric vehicles are cheaper than gas-powered cars. For example, electric vehicles do not need oil, so there will be no need to oil change. Another economic advantage of owning an electric vehicle is that there are lots of government incentives such as tax credits. These are simply implemented by governments because more electric vehicle owner means better environment.
Cons of Electric Vehicles:
The pros of electric vehicles are mostly fuel-performance related, and these are the following.
Fuel-Performance Problem of Electric Vehicles:
Even though the automotive industry is trying to find a solution, electric vehicles cannot go as further as traditional gas-powered vehicles. A fully charged electric vehicle can go between 200 and 490 kilometers (https://wallbox.com/en_catalog/faqs-electric-car). On the other hand, an average gas-powered car may go for around 650 km with a full tank. Another problem related to fuel performance is the time of refueling. Filling up a gas-powered vehicle’s tank is simple. It will last just a couple of minutes. However, the situation is different for recharging an electric vehicle. Depending on the model of the car and the type of the charger, recharging may last 30 minutes best or more than 12 hours.
Charging Station Problem of Electric Vehicles:
Other than the recharging problem, finding a charging station is also a huge problem, although the number of electric vehicle owners is increasing. In bigger cities, there are various charging stations in parking lots or on the sides of the roads. However, in smaller cities, it is hard to find a charging station. To solve that, consumers can carry their EV charger with themselves but because of the low performance of the charger, road trips can be more difficult than to be expected.
Having an electric car is seen mostly beneficial in the world in the last couple of years. The main reason behind this is that EV offers more sustainable power consumption. So, every day, more and more people prefer electric vehicles since it is more appealing. However, electric vehicles have still some important deficits with current technologies, but hopes are high for the future. Many industries are working on these issues every day. Yet, as a green technology company, our priority for our R&D projects in inavitas has always been sustainable technology. In this sense, we believe that the current cons in EV technology can be eliminated thanks to the developing technology for a greener world and a future.
