The Electric Vehicle (EV) Debate — is Africa ready for the fully electric car?
The ongoing debate rages; are Electric Vehicles (EVs) truly the future of automobile?
The transition from fossil fuel powered vehicles unto the EV dream has not been as speedily as many imagined some years ago. Some gasoline enthusiasts still argue that fuel-powered cars are still much better now than they used to be, and the savings on emissions versus an EV are so comparable in this modern era. Personally, I believe that each has its merits.
With the arrival of the commercially available full electric cars, gasoline powered vehicles are being engineered and built better and more efficient than before. New systems like displacement-on-demand which allows for a car to shutoff some of its engine cylinders to save fuel under certain driving conditions is remarkably changing the way cars deliver performance and fuel efficiency.
Now imagine being in a third world country like Ghana and owning a Tesla, which is a very popular brand of electric vehicle, where would you charge it should you be running low on your climb up to Aburi? This is one of the main issues with the EV; there isn’t enough infrastructure in many parts of the developing world. What if your battery dips because as you travel from Accra to Cape Coast (200km+)? You couldn’t carry a power brick big enough to charge an EV significantly. But you could always carry emergency fuel in a gallon in your car. This helps you increase your drive time till the next fuel station since you will know exactly how much to top up for your destination, unlike EVs which can only travel a couple hundred miles on a full charge. Comparing numbers; Tesla’s EV sedans go 200–250 miles on a full charge, against the 350–400 miles of your average gasoline powered sedan.
Because fossil fuel powered cars are a larger share of the market, they are therefore still cheaper than most EVs. The cheapest gasoline powered car in 2019 was the Nissan Versa Sedan which cost $12,815, while the cheapest EV in 2019 was the Smart EQ Fortwo which costs $26,740. That’s double the price of the Nissan.
The argument that EVs will ultimate protect the environment against our own selves, is flawed in many regards. We seem to forget that EVs use electricity which is predominantly produced in the Western world by burning coal; dirty, dark coal. Or even natural gas in some instances. If this is the case, then I can say that both vehicle power-trains cause damage to the environment. One direct, the other more indirectly.
It is safe to say that Gasoline-powered vehicles are cheaper, have no charging woes, more efficient, great for travelling long distances, and I dare say create the same amount of pollution on the environment made by Electric Vehicles. I leave you to answer.
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