Is the electric car good enough?
By youless
@youless (114117)
Guangzhou, China
March 12, 2021 9:00am CST
I haven't used an electric car before, gas cars are still the main here. But it can be quite different in the future. Today my friend told me the advantages of having an electric car. At least the maintenance fee can be very little compare to the gas cars. And using electricity is also cheaper than the gas. I heard in Europe there will be all electric cars in a few years. That's very cool!
Now I concern about whether the charging piles can be enough. I shall pay attention to it when I am out
8 people like this
6 responses
@owlwings (43897)
• Cambridge, England
12 Mar 21
Although an electric car is much more expensive to buy at the moment than a conventional (petrol or diesel) car, the costs of running it offset that cost considerably so that it is probably cheaper to own one over 5 years than to own a conventional car. The initial expenses are mainly down to the small production level and the cost of the battery. Both of these are likely to reduce as production levels rise and the cost of the battery falls (as it is predicted to do).
The reason that maintenance costs are likely to be lower is that there are far fewer moving parts in an electric car than there are in a petrol or diesel car and therefore far less to go wrong.
The factors which are likely to hold back acceptance of electric vehicles are the roll-out of charging points country wide (though cars can be charged overnight from a home electric circuit) and the increase in generation of electricity sufficient to support the considerably increased load. In the UK there are already claimed to be enough charging points for more than the cars already on the road and more are being made available for home users as new houses are built.
I believe that there is also a subtle resistance from people who have invested in fossil fuels, though I cannot see how it works. We shall still need fossil fuels, however, for quite a time to run large and heavy equipment for road transport, aircraft and large ships. I suspect, too, that much of the increased electricity needed will have to be generated by fossil fuels.
Overall, electric vehicles are not quite as 'clean' as many people think. They still need steel and plastics in their manufacture and the electricity they need still has to be produced somewhere. They may reduce air pollution in cities but that pollution is likely to be concentrated instead around the electricity generating stations.
5 people like this
@vandana7 (102698)
• India
12 Mar 21
But we will run out of fossil fuels sooner than later. Solar energy is not available throughout the year. And that too requires those batteries etc. Among the alternatives available, which should we look at for say
1. Commuting in regular traffic - 20 points
2. Reducing pollution - 20 points
3. Commuting outside - 10 points
4. Maintenance - 20 points
5. Size - 10 points
6. Availability of fuel - 10 points
7. Cost of purchase - 10 points
So presuming all other factors are alike..if I have to give points for electric vehicle, and give points to vehicle running on gas, how would you give the scores for each type?
3 people like this
@owlwings (43897)
• Cambridge, England
12 Mar 21
@vandana7 Solar energy isn't the only renewable and 'free' source of electricity. There is also wind and water power and tidal energy which are capable of being exploited as well as the burning of biomass, which of course releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, though that may be to a certain extent compensated by the take up of carbon dioxide by the plants used for the biomass.
One should not forget, also, that plants may be used to make the hydrocarbons suitable for combustion engines. After all, fossil fuel is all the product of ancient plant matter.
There are so many other sources of energy, as yet in their infancy, which, because fossil fuel is still so cheap to obtain and still so heavily invested in, it is still 'uneconomic' for the investors to put their money into. The problem is that it looks as if the people with the money - and thus the rest of the world - will find out too late where it should be invested.
While I agree with your point assessment of electric vehicles in many ways, I can't give a similar score for conventional vehicles because there are too many variables.
1 person likes this
@dgobucks226 (37621)
•
19 Mar 21
I imagine it will be a very gradual transition over many years before all can afford and own one.
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