[INFORMATIVE] Electric Vehicles: Smart Solution or Faulted Future?

Electric Vehicles: Smart Solution or Faulted Future?

By: Julia Nemchenko

In November 2023, leading EV (electric vehicle) manufacturer Tesla released their newest car model: the Tesla cybertruck. Made of stainless steel, the model is extremely durable and came with several updates not present in past models. Seasoned Tesla users were extremely impressed, some going as far as calling it the “greatest car ever made.” However, the reaction of the general public towards the new vehicle has been less than receptive, to say the least. The car holds a rather specific look that has never been utilized in car manufacturing before, which has severely ruined the public perception of it. While this may seem like a silly reason to hate a specific type of car, there is a much bigger question that arises from this: if the look of a car is enough to make the general public hate it to such an extreme degree, what does that say about the car itself? Because EVs do not run on gasoline, many have begun to see these cars as a plausible way to reduce air pollution, but is this really the truth? Moreover, what issues within the EV landscape currently make these cars so unreliable? Is there actually a chance of EVs becoming the dominant car type used across the world?

This may be surprising, but the first electric vehicle was actually created over a century ago. In 1890, the first model, which was nothing more than an electrified wagon, dramatically succeeded on the market, and by the early 1900s, there was an eruption in the number of electric cars being used, making up about ⅓ of all the cars on the road. This was a revolutionary development in the realm of transportation, but it was also during a time when people did not have much choice. Because the only other legitimate choice was to travel by horse, many people naturally preferred the slightly more efficient electric vehicle. However, when the first gas-powered car, Henry Ford’s “Model T,” hit the market in 1908, electric cars were immediately forgotten about. The ease, availability, and affordability of the vehicle elevated the gasoline-powered cars way above the electric ones. By 1912, it costs almost 3 times as much to get an EV as it costs to purchase a gas-powered car, so naturally, the electric vehicles became obsolete rather quickly. Gasoline cars were, in theory, the much better choice: with the discovery of oil, gasoline was readily available pretty much everywhere at really low prices, while electricity was more expensive and rather uncommon anywhere outside of big cities. (Matulka)

Decades later, gasoline shortages started to become a huge problem. With high oil prices and no more affordable ways to get access to gasoline, Americans began trying to find a solution. For the first time in almost 70 years, electric cars were seen as something that could greatly improve transportation in American life, and with more environmental concerns developing as time went on, so grew interest in these cars. Scientists were determined to develop an EV that could potentially replace the common gasoline car, and in late 2010, the first two models – the Chevy Volt and the Nissan LEAF – were first released to the public. Interest in these vehicles grew rapidly, and today customers have many options when it comes to choosing their electric vehicles. (Matulka)

In 2024, electric vehicles aren’t anything new. Many people use these cars, and more would use them if they had the money. However, there are still major concerns about the true benefits, drawbacks, and even ethics surrounding the development of electric vehicles.

According to CBS News, electric cars have “nearly 80% more problems and are generally less reliable than cars propelled by conventional internal combustion engines,” while plug-in hybrid electric vehicles have “an average of almost 150% more problems” (Picchi). A good portion of these concerns are directly related to the makeup of the electric vehicle itself, specifically the battery, charging, higher costs, and a high sense of distrust in the vehicle itself.

The battery is the staple of the electric vehicle and the reason why these cars do not need gasoline to operate. There is a common assumption that because electric vehicles are battery-charged, they do not emit any carbon dioxide. This is actually not true – although electric vehicles do release a lot less carbon dioxide than regular gasoline cars, the charge used for the batteries is often made from fossil fuels. That being said, people still say that the battery needs to be optimized to handle longer driving distances. Currently, a 100% charge on a car battery is enough to last around 2 days of standard, short-distance driving. It is very difficult to stay on the road for longer than a few hours without having to recharge the vehicle; the battery life is way too short to be suitable for the lifestyles of a vast majority of people, especially those who live far from their jobs.

When it comes to charging for electric vehicles, there are three main options: charging at home, at a destination charger, or a supercharger. Most electric vehicle users prefer to charge their cars at home. While it has to be done frequently and is added to the owner’s electric bill, the overall process is cheaper in the long run. If Tesla owners only use their vehicles for regular driving, they can just charge their car at home if they’re careful and charge frequently. Tesla owners receive their at-home charger as part of their vehicle purchase. The charging process takes multiple hours with these chargers, so most Tesla owners will charge their vehicles overnight. The other two options, superchargers and destination chargers, are similar to regular gas stations. These are public charging stations, with currently over 68,000 within the United States. So what exactly is the difference between the two? While both are significantly more powerful and charge way faster, the time it takes for the car to charge can still vary. With regular, common destination chargers in the US, it takes around 1-1.5 hours to fully charge a car. If you are in a hurry, however, your best bet will probably be a supercharger. These are currently the fastest electric vehicle chargers, able to fully charge a car in around 20-30 minutes, with the charging fee being significantly higher than that of a destination charger. The problem? There are still very few public charging stations, meaning you’re pretty much out of luck if you forget to charge your vehicle and realize you’re running extremely low on battery. Longer car trips, too, become much more difficult since trying to find a charger may cause a significantly longer navigation route.

While you save money on gasoline in the long run – if you remember to consistently charge your vehicle at home – electric vehicles still bring with them extremely high price tags, especially upfront. The cheapest electric car in existence costs over $28,000, and the average price for an EV sits at around $55,000. For the majority of people worldwide, this is an extremely unattainable cost, especially when the state of the economy is not doing well right now. The at-home charger, too, is not exactly free; most buy it when they pick up their cars, costing around $500. While this isn’t a significant change to the cost, this is still an extremely high price for a majority of people, especially when some gasoline cars can be purchased for just a few thousand dollars with no major alterations needed. Additionally, many EV features are only available if you choose to subscribe to that feature; this is often a monthly subscription and can run about $100 for features such as autopilot.

Finally, there are varying opinions over whether electric vehicles are ethical or not as a whole. Because they run on electricity, car manufacturers hold significant control over the cars even after they’re in the hands of the owner. Some people see this as a sure way for car manufacturers to eventually abuse this power. There have been complaints over the manufacturers taking away subscription-based services as “penalties” while still making you pay for the service, and many are worried that this is just the beginning. People fear a black-mirror-esque future and are worried that by giving the car companies this much power over individual vehicles, the companies might push for more expensive technology that would force users to pay more for the same experience, conveniently taking more money from consumers.

In conclusion, while electric vehicles do lead to less fossil fuel use and air pollution, a myriad of issues still need to be resolved before this will become a legitimate option for car owners. With leading EV companies steadily losing public support, this may take a lot longer than people think.

Works Cited
Find My Electric. “Electric Car Prices: The Average Electric Car Cost in 2023.” Find My Electric, 29 Jan. 2023, www.findmyelectric.com/blog/electric-car-prices/.

Matulka, Rebecca. “The History of the Electric Car.” Energy.gov, Department of Energy, 15 Sept. 2014, www.energy.gov/articles/history-electric-car.

Picchi, Aimee. “Electric Vehicles Have Almost 80% More Problems than Gas-Powered Ones, Consumer Reports Says - CBS News.” Www.cbsnews.com, 29 Nov. 2023, www.cbsnews.com/news/electric-vehicles-consumer-reports-reliability-report/.

US EPA. “Electric Vehicle Myths.” Www.epa.gov, 14 May 2021, www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/electric-vehicle-myths#Myth1.