ARE ELECTRIC CARS REALLY ANY GOOD?

 

Electric cars ensure zero emissions, move fast and have motors that are generally above 95% efficient. But does this mean that they are any good. Well below are the reasons they might not be.

Raw Material Cost:

The list of materials needed for lithium-ion batteries include metals like lithium, nickel, manganese and cobalt. These are not as abundant as other metals like iron or aluminum. Lithium is only 0.002 percent of Earth’s crust. If we consider an electric car with 100 kWh lithium-ion battery pack, its battery alone will cost more than USD 15,000 at current rates. That is why in the short run, EV’s are more expensive than Petrol powered cars. Savings only come when you are going to own the same EV (Electric Vehicle) for a decade.

Production/Manufacturing Cost:

The metals are needed in their purest form, which increases their production cost. Advanced processes are used to refine these metals and convert them into high-purity chemical compounds which are also costly. The battery manufacturing process is itself too complex that is why it is also a lot costly. EVs (Electric Vehicle) also need sophisticated cooling systems which are usually like Phones and PCs (personal computers) etc. .Such systems are not too expensive when manufactured in smaller sizes, but when employed in EVs, they are merged with water cooling systems of conventional cars which makes them complexed and costlier to produce.

EV Cost vs Fuel Car Cost:

The average cost to run an EV in the United States is $485 per year, while the average for a gasoline-powered vehicle is $1,117. In Countries having renewable energy resources like Solar and hydro power ,it is quite less .But in countries where electricity is mostly generated using fossil fuels like furnace oil .Electric cars work like External combustion engines ,so as a result combined efficiency of an electric motor and a Thermal power plant generator is somewhere around 60% which is not far off then average efficiency of petrol powered cars which is somewhere around 40%,and cost of running is increased .Most of countries are relying on fossil fuel power due to costlier setups needed for renewable energy ,that is why Electric cars are not that cheap to run. It may be cheap on customer end, but not cheap on the government end.

Limited choice :

Electric vehicles are disproportionately aimed at the higher end of the market. Few all-electric models are available for less than £20,000. Prices are likely to continue to fall and running an electric vehicle tends to be cheaper than a petrol or diesel equivalent. But the higher upfront costs may stop many drivers from buying electric vehicles for the near future, even when a vibrant second-hand market appears.

Setup Cost of charging facilities:

The dire question of who will pay for installing the charging stations remains. It is widely assumed that the private sector will build, run and keep charging infrastructure. But businesses have long been slow to get involved, in part because profit margins still are small and governments have heavily subsidized the development of charging points. Still another question that persists is the cost that the development of more power plants and energy generating setups will need. UK for example only produces about 5% more energy it needs. Who will pay for that? Many governments have made Electrification targets, without much planning about these factors.

The zero-carbon fantasy:

Even battery electric vehicles are not a zero-carbon solution. They may not produce the exhaust pipe emissions, but even if all the electricity was from renewable sources, there would still be an environmental cost. Sourcing the minerals used for batteries, dismantling batteries which have deteriorated, and building and delivering vehicles to customers worldwide all involve substantial CO2 emissions. It is impossible to break all the links. And to our further agony, the setup of charging stations, power generation setups and EV manufacturing facilities, all needs space. This may put up a new risk forward of deforestation. The closest we might get to a zero-carbon solution is if all electricity is from hydro power and the EVs (Electric Vehicle) are totally made from recycled materials, and this is currently near too impossible.

Battery lifespan :

One of the biggest issues with electronics is the battery lifespan Just like how your phone’s battery will start to deteriorate, so will your EV’s! Although the deterioration process is significantly longer for E Vs, this is still likely to happen. That is why unlike the fuel tank of a car ,you might need to replace the batteries ,which needs a huge amount of money .And if you do not live in a country which produces them, import charges and taxes are going to be added for them which would be huge for now, because they are a rare item as electric cars are nearly only 5% of total cars sold annually .Even if manufacturers promise long term savings ,you might end up spending there same amount of money you would have spent on a Petrol powered vehicle .

Safety Risk :

An EV battery has a lower temperature operation range of 15℃ to 45℃ compared to an ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) vehicle of -30℃ to 50℃.

The components of an EV battery are also highly flammable and it can start a fire almost any time!

Manufacturers have tried to circumvent the issue by separating the battery into smaller cells with firewalls to prevent thermal runaway from occurring. Other manufacturers are also building batteries with less flammable components which produce fewer harmful chemicals.

Another problem with E Vs is the risk of thermal runaway. This refers to the rapid and extreme rise in temperature which spreads to other battery cells. As E Vs have bigger batteries or more battery cells, it is especially dangerous.

If left unchecked, it could possibly lead to smoke, fire, and even explosions! And all it needs is a single battery cell to short circuit and combust to start the chain reaction.

In short, even if your EV has a 5-star crash safety rating. It can burn you to death.

Range of Electric Vehicles:

The range of Current E Vs is significantly lower than petrol vehicles due to very low energy density of batteries in general, with 780 km (about half the distance from Florida to New York City) being highest in Mercedes EQS ,which costs around $120,000.Maybe you don’t usually get that much range in a petrol powered vehicle costing the same .But considering the low number of charging stations and the time it takes to charge them, range of EVs is going to become a bigger problem .The world is already too busy and too fast .No one really has the 1 hour in a working day to spare to charge them to go just another 100 km or so ,that is why mostly they will prefer at night home charging .But even if after charging for a whole night, they can’t go more than about 300 km (about twice the distance from Washington, D.C. to New York City) far .That is why for now EV owners can’t do many long drives.

Alternatives may be better for circular economy :

Most of the people may not know about this but there is an alternative to the Electric Vehicles .It is known as Hydrogen Internal Combustion Engine .May be it is not as efficient as an EV motor .but it is way more Environment Friendly .With the advancing Internal Combustion Engine Technology, we might get up to 60 % thermal efficiencies soon. The Hydrogen Internal Combustion Engines are simple Internal Combustion Engines but there is just only one difference ,they use hydrogen as a fuel instead of fossil fuels .The benefit is that theoretically this way the only emission to the environment is that of the water .This is more Environment Friendly because the production of EVs is more Environment polluting than the production of Ice vehicles .The theoretical difference in the combined tons of Carbon dioxide emitted during long run cycle and production of a Hybrid RAV4 and Tesla Model 3 is somewhere near 5 tons .This may sound big, but when we already are adding nearly 40 tons of Carbon dioxide to the environment ,5 tons more doesn’t matter that much .The RAV 4 will produce lesser CO2 if it has a Hydrogen ICE , then why we are investing so much in electrification struggles when we know it is not worth it .The global electrification campaign will involve large scale draining of metallurgical resources .Metals will be needed for manufacturing power generating equipment, recharging stations, batteries and a bigger electricity supply network, and still this campaign can’t promise that all cars on road will be electric. Meanwhile for Hydrogen Internal Combustion Engine, we might not need to spend that many resources as the existing filling station technology is quite like the one needed for hydrogen so it can be changed for that purpose, and all the petrol-powered powered cars can be changed to run on hydrogen fuel because after all they also have an Internal Combustion Engine. The modifying process may also need metal resources, but in very less quantity. That is why this alternative is more environmentally friendly and cheaper