There are still many who are hesitant to make the switch to fully electric vehicles, EVs. Change can often be hard and habits hard to break, but is this apprehension predominantly misled?
According to The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, though the number of EVs being sold is increasing rapidly, over 1,000,000 new petrol cars were sold in 2020, approximately ten times the number of EVs.
The number of EVs has, indeed, made a huge leap forward, but sadly petrol & diesel, or Internal Combustion Engine, ICE, vehicles, still dominate. Why should you switch to an electric car today? Let’s address some of the misconceptions.
Contents
Range
EVs have rubbish range
The biggest concern that most people have with getting an EV is range. They think that all EVs can only do 80 km (50 miles) on a single charge, and that this is simply not satisfactory for their trip to Cornwall.
Yes, this was the case pre-2016, but times have changed. The reality is that the vast majority of EVs built within the last five years have a range of over 160 km (100 miles), depending on the life they have had. The latest EVs, such as the Tesla Model X, have a range of up to 547 km (340 miles).
Long range is important
Back in 2012, when range on EVs was much lower, this report was published.
95% Of All Trips Could Be Made In Electric Cars
Green Car Reports, 2012-01
Think about it. How far do you really drive during the average day?
On a daily basis, cars in the UK drive an average of 20 miles a day, 142 miles a week, 617 miles a month and 7,400 miles a year.
Average Car Mileage UK 2021, NimbleFins
The newest cars in Great Britain do an average of 10,377 miles in each of the first three years after they are registered. This is the equivalent of 28 miles per day.
Mobility FAQs, RAC Foundation
The vast majority of drivers drive significantly less than 160 km (100 miles) per day, meaning that the range on an EV could easily allow them to fulfil all their daily needs and still get home with battery to spare. Even the older models that only have a range of 80 km (50 miles) could still be useful for many people, as more employers are installing charging stations at the office. You would then be able to charge your EV at home, drive to the office and charge it there, then by the end of the working day your battery would be full again.
You cannot drive to Cornwall
For most of Britain, Cornwall is a far-away coastal region that is one of the first considerations when we think of holidaying within Britain. For the Cornish, I guess the same could be said of Bognor Regis.
The point is that no, most EVs will not allow you to do a very long drive on one charge. But as above, what you need to remember is,
how often do you actually do a very long drive?
If it is just once or twice a year, you will still be saving money by using an EV for 95% of your journeys and then renting an ICE car for the three days a year you actually need to drive to the ends of the earth. Furthermore, if everyone reduced their petrol usage by 95%, the planet would be in a much better shape.
A similar example was highlighted by Technology Connections; the LED traffic light. When LEDs were first introduced into traffic lights, many suggested that this reduced the safety of the traffic light, as LEDs do not produce enough heat to melt snow, which could obstruct the signals. They therefore insisted that incandescent bulbs should be reinstalled.
What this assertion fails to take into account is the 95% of the year when, in most parts of the world, there is no snow. Incandescent bulbs are so inefficient that they are more accurately described as heaters that happen to produce a bit of light. All this energy would be wasted during the summer, so installing LEDs, along with a heater that remains switched off unless there is snow, is significantly cheaper than running incandescent bulbs all the time.
The same “but sometimes” trap exists with cars. We know that we do drive long distances, but fail to take the frequency of those trips into account. In reality, most of us rarely drive long distances, let alone every day, so we actually do not need to pay extra for the ability to do so every day.
Equally, you might sometimes go on a trip to Alton Towers with all your mates, but are you ever going to buy a bus? No! You rent one! Why buy something you will almost never use?
But I do need to drive to Cornwall
The main limiting factor for EVs is not actually mechanical or chemical; it is biological! Humans need to urinate roughly every three hours, so you will probably feel the call of nature before your EV calls for a charge.
Empty your bladder every three hours, whether you have the urge to go or not
Nazia Bandukwala, D.O., “How long is it safe to hold your urine?” Piedmont
Furthermore, driver fatigue is one of the most lethal conditions. Driving is a tiring activity, so doing it for too long can have dire consequences.
10–20% of all crashes are estimated to be caused by driver fatigue and could be as dangerous as drink-driving
DRIVER FATIGUE, Brake
The highway code, therefore, requires that drivers
plan your journey to take sufficient breaks. A minimum break of at least 15 minutes after every two hours of driving is recommended
Rule 91, “Rules for drivers and motorcyclists”, UK Highway Code
With the wide range of charging points now available (see next point) you could drive for a safe 90 minutes, then stop at a service station for a cuppa and a wee. By the time you are ready, your EV battery will be mostly charged again and ready to go.
There are not enough filling stations
Many people think that EVs need to be charged using the same operating model as ICE vehicles are fueled; with a petrol station. This is an understandable notion, as cars have needed petrol stations for over a century.
The first filling station in England was opened in November 1919 at Aldermaston, Berkshire by the Automobile Association (AA).
When Did England’s First Filling Station Open?, Historic England
The reality is that you might never need to visit a petrol station ever again, unless, as previously mentioned, you need to answer the call of nature. This is because, you, like most EV owners, will likely install an EV charger at your home, or use a public charger nearby. You simply plug the car in at night and it will be fully charged by the morning, ready for a full day of driving about town. Not only does this save you money on not purchasing petrol, but also if you spend 10 minutes per week at a petrol station, you are also saving over 8.6 hours per year. This is clearly time that you can spend with people, rather than a petrol pump.
Furthermore, as of 2019,
There are now more electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in the UK than conventional fuel stations
UK has more EV charging stations than petrol stations, Autotrader, 2019-08-15
If you do get caught short, you will always have somewhere to charge.
You need a driveway to charge your EV
Yes, having your own off-street parking is helpful if you want to have your own home charger, however, it is not necessary. Anecdotally, I have heard of Taxi drivers who do not have their own off-road parking being perfectly happy with their Nissan Leaf and only ever using the public charging network.
As above, the public charging network is becoming more widespread than it was a decade ago, so you might not need your own charger. Coventry, for example, has excellent coverage.
Coventry City Council has installed 373 public charging points across the city in areas with a high proportion of terraced housing to encourage residents to make the switch.
Number of electric vehicles in Coventry set to rocket by 3,000 per cent, Coventry Telegraph
Ask your local council to keep up!
You might not even need any charging point at home! If,
- you drive to a workplace every day.
- your workplace is less than 25 miles away.
- you spend 8 or more hours at the workplace.
- your workplace has electricity.
You could simply plug into any normal mains socket when you get to work. According to EV Compare, a first generation Nissan Leaf should charge from 20% to 80% over your normal working day, just using a standard UK mains socket. This provides you with approximately 67 miles of range at the end of each day.
EVs are expensive, ICEs are cheaper
There is no question that new EVs are, in 2021 at least, more expensive than their petrol equivalents – if you only look at the purchase price; the “hidden costs” are often significantly higher.
ICE vehicles have been around for a while, to say the least, so the technology is mature and cheap, which allows car factories churn out ICE vehicles at a rate of knots, which, in turn, reduces their price due to efficiencies of scale. This translates to a lower purchase price, both new and second hand, however, that low purchase price hides the cost of,
- tax
- maintenance
- oil
- coolant
- fuel
- Low Emission Zone charges
This is an example of a false economy. Others include,
- cheap shoes, because they wear out faster than quality ones.
- inkjet printers, because they cost significantly more per page than laser printers.
- cheap paint, because it requires more coats than the leading brand.
In each of these cases, by taking the option with the cheaper up-front cost, one ultimately spends more than one would have if one had opted for the one with the lowest total cost of ownership.
EVs, on the other hand,
- do not pay road tax in Britain
- do not drink oil, unlike some ICE cars
- do not require coolant
- do not require fuel
- are not charged to drive in low emissions zones, including London’s ultra-low emissions zone
- require significantly less maintenance as they have significantly fewer moving parts
Teslas use electric motors that have two moving parts, and single-speed “transmissions” that have no gears. The company says its drive-train has about 17 moving parts compared with about 200 in a conventional internal combustion drive-train.
10 things that make electric-car maker Tesla special, MarketWatch, 2016-08-23
This means that the total cost of ownership for EVs is significantly lower than that of ICE vehicles.
If you are looking for a cheap, local runabout, then the first generation of Nissan Leaf (pre-2018) might be just right for you. Now that the second generation of Nissan Leaf has been released, the older model has started to flood the market, thereby pushing the price way down. Do bear in mind that these models do have that slightly lower range we discussed before, however, if you utilise the above suggestions and plentiful charging stations, this is unlikely to hold you back from your everyday travel.
Some examples that were available on Autotrader at the time of writing include,
- 2015, five-door, 5,347 miles, £7,995
- 2011, five-door, 93,500 miles, £3,850
- 2011, five-door, 74,679 miles, £4,295
Cars are, in general, a dumb thing to spend lots of money on as they depreciate faster than ice cream in a sauna.
Always get the minimum car that just about meets your needs so that you can put your money into areas that can make you money. An EV can help you with this because even if you spend a little extra on the purchase price to reduce the mileage, they almost entirely remove the biggest costs of owning a car – maintenance and fuel.
EVs are no better for the planet than ICE vehicles
This is a tough one because there is no easy answer. Yes, most EV batteries are built from lithium right now, and lithium mining is not a pretty process, sometimes both ethically and environmentally.
If you are able to change your lifestyle to reduce your carbon footprint, particularly by switching to an EV, it is currently expected that this should more than offset the emissions caused by the process of producing that EV. That said, carbon offsetting is not the answer, as we need to eliminate our carbon emissions rather than trying to treat the planet like a CO₂ balance sheet. Nonetheless, doing something is always better than doing nothing. Perfection is the enemy of progress, so if 90% of people could reduce their petrol miles by 90%, then everyone would be better off both financially and environmentally.
Additionally, many manufacturers are also starting to think about what will happen to the vehicle once it reaches the end of life. The Nissan Leaf, for example, is made from almost entirely recycled and recyclable materials, so when it does eventually reach that immortal charging station in the sky, its parts could be made into something else, rather than going to a landfill. Perhaps even another Nissan leaf!
Another consideration is how often you change your car. If you buy a new car every two years, this has a huge environmental cost, as those resources need to be dug out of the ground, put together and shipped to you. If, however, you buy a car and use it for its entire lifespan, not only are you getting your money’s worth, but it also removes the need to make a new thing to replace a perfectly good existing thing. Don’t let the car industry persuade you that you have to upgrade to every new model, make do and mend!
Conclusion: it is just different
Ultimately, one needs to remember that EVs are a different beast from ICE vehicles. Not bad, just different. Once one can come to terms with this, an EV can really work for you.