The automotive industry and related services is growing rapidly. What was considered insanity a few decades ago is now a modern reality. For example, today we observe the emergence of autopilot cars, while modern travelers can easily book exotic car rental in Tulsa or anywhere else in the world in a few clicks online.
Among all modern innovations, electric cars are one of the most popular inventions. Clean, resource-saving, and maintenance-free – they are touted from all sides. But critics see in electric cars only a temporary phenomenon. In order to check this fact, we tested 7 most popular myths about electric vehicles…
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Electric cars have inefficient and expensive batteries
There is an established claim that batteries of electric cars are very inefficient and too expensive to maintain.
According to experts, in order to compete with conventional cars, the cost of energy received from the battery of an electric car should be in the range of $150 per kilowatt per hour. Speaking of Tesla batteries, the company says that this indicator is about $125.
In any case, the cost of batteries for electric cars will be constantly reduced due to regular investments in their production and generous concessions from the legislation of different countries. Moreover, the market of lithium-ion batteries is constantly growing, and where production volumes are growing, the cost of goods decreases significantly.
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Electric cars are explosive
In the fall of 2014 in the USA immediately recorded three episodes of fires of Tesla Model S cars after the accident. This was the reason for talk about the insecurity of such cars. At the same time, in all cases, a fire didn’t penetrate into the salons of electric cars, and drivers and passengers managed to leave the car in time.
According to the statistics obtained, it can be seen that the percentage of fires in electric cars is much lower than in cars with internal combustion engines. In addition, the big danger is not the fire itself, but the explosion. In this regard, cars with ICE are much more dangerous.
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Electric cars are too expensive
Experts claim that the cost of owning an electric car is already lower than that of the same gasoline-powered Mercedes. If we see the latest forecasts, the Tesla Model E electric car will be able to compete in service on equal terms with the popular car in the USA and Europe – Toyota Camry.
Also, don’t forget that electricity is the cheapest energy source in the world for cars.
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Electric cars are not for cold climate
There is a fairly widespread opinion that electric cars feel bad in cold winters. Many people are convinced that in the presence of wet snow, reagents and road dirt, the electronics in such cars will immediately fail. Of course, this is not so – to dispel this myth, it’s enough to look at the trams and trains that are familiar for many countries – they are not very afraid of the cold.
Of course, the capacity of electric car batteries in the cold season decreases due to a sharp drop in temperature. Plus, the use of interior heating and headlights discharges batteries. So it’s worth considering that in winter the distance that an electric car can travel without recharging will be less than in summer, but this is not a significant difference. In addition, ordinary cars with ICE also don’t always tolerate frosty weather well.
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Electric cars are too slow
It’s widely believed that electric motors are much slower, and it’s impossible to drive really fast on such a car. But most electric motors give considerable torque, starting from the first revolutions.
For example, the basic configuration of the Tesla Model S has an engine power of 362 hps, and the most expensive option is able to reach a speed of 100 km/h in just 3.1 seconds.
Of course, don’t forget that the higher the speed, the faster the batteries are discharged, so the maximum speed of electric vehicles, as a rule, is limited by electronics.
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Electric cars can’t cope with a constant full load
For electric vehicles, maximum performance cannot be obtained continuously, unlike gasoline cars. This is due to electric motors, which, regardless of the load, operate with efficiency above 90%.
The higher the speed of the car, the more the level of energy consumed increases. As a result, the engine and battery pack become very hot. Therefore, electric cars automatically reduce performance so that the components can cool down.
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Electric cars often break
Currently, the average life cycle of a petrol-powered car in Europe is 18 years. It’s too early to say what this indicator will be for electric cars. However, current Nissan Leaf tests conducted by ADAC show that electric cars have good endurance.
In particular, although according to the results of the 5-year test, this Nissan model lost about 10% of the battery capacity, but otherwise it proved to be reliable.
However, a problem that can’t be taken is the production of batteries for electric vehicles. The environmental impact of the entire production chain is clearly underestimated, as it was evidenced by frightening research results.