Why Electric Cars Have Always Failed
Ralph Kinney Bennett at TCS Daily boils it down to one word:
Like strange, silent techno-zombies EVs keep rolling back into the public eye, earnestly appealing to us to ignore basic economics and fall under the sway of their swift, silent, non-polluting mobility. But despite the most ardent labor of various entrepreneurs, scientists and engineers; despite some of the most ingenious inventions, adaptations, modifications and applications of all sorts of technology, EVs have not been able to become the car the public wants them to be.
They have succeeded as purpose-built vehicles — fork lifts, golf carts, “city cars,” airport shuttles and the like. But they have never become the car for the open road, the let’s-drive-over-to-the-shore-for-the-weekend car.
Why?
Let’s go over this one more time, class: Range. Range is the problem. Electric cars do not have sufficient range to be the practical, versatile, every day car most people want.
They don’t have range because they operate on batteries — those mysterious sealed devices that convert chemicals into stored electrical energy. And batteries can’t store enough energy to keep an EV going more than 50 or 60 miles, or in rare cases (with experienced drivers and the latest and very expensive nickel-metal-hydride battery packs) 150 miles, before they have to be recharged.
Put it this way. I can drive my wife’s big Lexus 55 miles on two gallons (about 16 pounds) of gasoline that cost me six bucks. An electric car like the one featured here could travel the same distance by exhausting its 1000-pound battery pack (lead-acid, costing $2000) which would then have to be recharged. The recharging would take about four hours. I could replace the two gallons of gasoline in about 30 seconds, but I wouldn’t have to because my wife’s car can easily go another 450 highway cruising miles on a tank of gas.
….. No matter what high hopes one may have for them, electric cars are cars of low expectations. They are, at their best, “only” cars — cars for people who expect to drive only a few miles, only on generally flat roads, with only themselves or perhaps one passenger, with only light cargo, and only in moderate weather.
In the “urban environment” so cherished by enlightened folks, EVs are adequate to the task. Electric propulsion is wonderful in a closed and somewhat predictable environment like, say Catalina Island. You just silently glide along, accelerate instantly, and have a general feeling of well being. But, alas, we can’t all live on Catalina Island.
….. But I have also found that too many EV enthusiasts seem to be a little bit contemptuous of ordinary folk who want to pack everyone in the van and go to the gymnastics competition a couple hundred miles away, or throw their dirt bikes into the back of the truck and head for the mountains.
These votaries of the EV religion get real heartburn when they see people barreling around in SUVs and pick up trucks that appear to be empty most of the time. They don’t seem to grasp the fact that millions of motorists do not see their cars as spare and ascetic tools to get them from point A to point B. Like it or not, American motorists see their cars as full of potentialities and possibilities, some of which may seldom or never be fulfilled.
Bennett also has some well-deserved scorn for those who insist that electric cars haven’t made it because of some grandiose oil company-car company-Dick Cheney conspiracy:
People who go around grousing and moaning about who killed the electric car are people with a schooled ignorance about markets and the realities of physics — and an intellectual arrogance — not only about what you and I should drive, but about how we should live.
Electric cars are good . . . . . for about two rounds of golf. :-)
Comment by LargeBill — June 29, 2006 @ 6:12 pm
The range problem is solvable: http://www.ruf.dk/
Comment by Russell Nelson — July 11, 2006 @ 1:58 am
London is crawling with electric cars.
http://www.goingreen.co.uk/
They work, are convenient and economical. Biggest problem is absence of a recharging infrastructure.
With a range of 40km they go anywhere inside a city of 8.5 million people.
Electric cars work in dense cities.
Remember most families now have 2 cars, so the discussion is about ’second cars’ rather than about ‘first cars’.
The scale of the global warming problem is so large that radical solutions will have to be envisaged. Electric cars aren’t a bad place to start– even if the recharging comes from coal fired stations, they still do considerably better on the CO2 scales than your average petrol driven vehicle.
Comment by Valuethinker — July 12, 2006 @ 5:13 am
You know, if you can put up with the range thing, there are a whole bundle of other advantages.
I bought a used EV and fixed it up. Total cost, $6000. Old technology, so my range is limited. But the batteries are cheap. About $800 for the pack, and with care, they can last me nearly 8 years. That amount is about what my other vehicle costs just for oil changes. (4 X $25 for 8 years.)
My electric utility has a special ‘EV rate’ of 2.5 cents per KWH. I get about 4 miles per KWH, so my 1300 miles of monthly driving only costs me $8. Yes, EIGHT dollars. In my other 18 mpg car, that would cost me $224 for the gasoline.
Picture of my car here:
http://www.austinev.org/evalbum/775
Also, interesting Chinese import, out next year:
http://www.milesautomotive.com/products_xs200.html
200 mile range, 80mph, MSRP $28500.
Comment by Apeweek — August 11, 2006 @ 1:03 am
#4 that does sound promising for limited use, but I guess that’s the point — people aren’t looking for limited use. Maybe in some cases they should.
How does the utility know you’re putting electricity in your car and not your TV? What kind of outlet is it? regular, 220, other?
Comment by TBlumer — August 11, 2006 @ 1:41 am
#5, Yes, my wife and I each have a car, so we have a gas car too, for the occasional cross-state trips. I use the EV for commuting and most other driving, though, to save those gas dollars. As you might imagine, it’s a bit of a hobby as well. The car looks very novel, and attracts stares and questions every day.
The outlet for the car is 220v, and separately metered, though I can also charge from 110 (a little slower.)
Comment by Apeweek — August 11, 2006 @ 11:46 am
We all know e- cars need to be charged up.But for city traffic ? whats wrong with it ?It would cut down on smog.GM cannot make enough money on them. Is that the reason ? Only three moving parts as opposed to 750 in a gasoline engine!
Comment by Peter Burr — November 12, 2006 @ 12:16 pm
#7, with all due respect, GM would be interested in ANY kind of idea that would make money, since the company as a whole hasn’t been.
There’s also nothing stopping anyone from starting up and electric car business.
Comment by TBlumer — November 12, 2006 @ 1:45 pm