11 Practical Reasons to Buy an Electric Car
Over the holidays I saw at least two lists dueling it out as to why electric cars may or may not be in your future. Those lists spanned the gamut from “Dude, they’re too expensive!“, to “Oil’s peaking, get off petroleum now!” But, although they brought up some food for thought, what those lists didn’t cover were the practical reasons to consider buying some kind of electric car (pure electric or extended range electric) in the next couple of years.
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Unless you’ve been under a rock, you’re already well aware that virtually all major auto manufacturers—and tons of small start-ups—are going to introduce some kind of electric car in the next 1 to 3 years. Sure, they will be more expensive initially and, yes, sooner or later we are going to run out of oil… but these points are largely abstract and subjective kinds of considerations.
In my mind the debate isn’t really about whether we should have electric cars or not, it’s about if the electric car fits your lifestyle. Let’s face it, with today’s technology, electric cars aren’t for everybody and, when we’re being realistic, the vast majority of people will still drive gas-powered cars into the foreseeable future.
So, if the electric car doesn’t work for you, no biggie, move on. But, if you’re on the fence about them, consider the following 11 practical reasons to go electric when buying your next car.
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1. No More Trips to the Service Department
By removing the engine, exhaust system, emissions controls, and the many other little bits that are traditionally associated with a combustion-powered car, then replacing them with a motor that has one moving part, some batteries, and associated fans and coolant, the chances that you’ll end up in the service department are drastically reduced.
Image Credit: auntylaurie’s Flickr photostream. Used under a Creative Commons License.
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2. No More Oil Changes
Due to all the reasons in #1, likely the only major things you’ll need to get regularly serviced on an EV will be a coolant flush and battery change every 100,000 miles or so.
Image Credit: Robert Couse-Baker’s Flickr photostream. Used under a Creative Commons License.
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3. No More Gas Stations
Early EV adopters will likely have to wait until a significant charging infrastructure is built up in their area, but until then, everyone who has an electric car will be charging it in their garage. Just like you plug your cell phone or iPod in every night, so to will you do with your car. You may never have to make a trip somewhere to “fill” your car up again.
Image Credit: Marcin Wichary’s Flickr photostream. Used under a Creative Commons License.
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4. No More Tailpipe Emissions
No more spewing carcinogens, asthma-inducing particles, toxins and stinky fumes everywhere you go. Those kids waiting at the bus stop will thank you for it.
Image Credit: Corrêa Carvalho’s Flickr photostream. Used under a Creative Commons License.
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5. Spend About $25 on “Fuel” Every Month
This one is based on a US average per kilowatt hour (kWh) charge of 12 cents, 12,000 miles driven per year, and an EV efficiency of 5 miles per kWh. This number could be much lower or higher depending on your driving needs and utility rates, but your savings versus gasoline will scale with those considerations. Also, this assumes a model where you own the battery instead of lease it.
Image Credit: it’s life’s Flickr photostream. Used under a Creative Commons License.
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January 12th, 2010 at 8:58 pm
Great list! #8 is security — but it doesn’t talk about the need to use our military to defend our oil supply (and natural gas), or all the awkward compromises we have to make in our foreign policy.
The diversity of sources (wind, solar PV, solar heat, geothermal, wave, tidal, hydro, biomass, etc.) is a great thing.
I would add #12: regenerative braking — you can reclaim 25-45% of the energy that you used back again an reuse it. Try *that* with any other fuel! This also greatly saves on friction brake wear and tear.
Sincerely, Neil
January 13th, 2010 at 9:50 am
Nick, I read your articles regularly, but I just lost some respect for your generally reasonable opinions.
Regarding #11: The majority of our oil imports do not come from the Middle East. Who is it then that doesn’t have your “best interests” in mind? U.S. oil corporations, or people who get bombed with our exported military hardware?
Stick to the facts, Jack.
January 13th, 2010 at 10:05 am
Chris,
Can’t please everybody all the time. While it’s true that we get oil from many places all over the globe and I singled out the middle east as one of the places that doesn’t have our best interests in mind, you can clearly see from these stats:
http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/company_level_imports/current/import.html
That an extremely large portion of our oil comes from countries (including middle east ones) that certainly have been openly hostile to the U.S. in the past and are breeding grounds for anti-U.S. sentiment.
Maybe I was wrong in singling out the Middle East, but my point still holds.
January 13th, 2010 at 10:22 am
Seeing that only 3 of the 15 countries listed are in the Middle East, totaling just 20% of our crude oil imports, it seems like you wanted to say something about the Middle East rather than why one should buy an electric car.
Those 3 countries are also U.S. allies, if Iraq can even been understood as such.
January 13th, 2010 at 10:41 am
Chris,
You’re right, I was trying to say something about the Middle East, but it doesn’t negate the fact that shifting to electric cars will stop the flow of trillions of dollars to the region. Seeing as the majority of terrorist attacks come from Middle Eastern organizations with ties to Saudi oil money, can you really say I shouldn’t single out the Middle East? You can also consider Venezuela an anti-U.S. government… and to a lesser extent, the modern government of Russia. If you add the oil imports from those two countries, that’s 34% of our oil imports… adding up to even more multiple trillions of dollars.
And, taking a global view, as the U.S. switches to electric cars, so to will other western countries in Europe, further reducing oil imports from anti-western countries.
For the record, 34% is nothing to sneeze at and it does represent trillions of dollars going to the one Middle Eastern country that has provided money—even if some of it is indirectly—to al-Qaida organizations worldwide. Not sure why you’ve chosen this point to pick on because no matter what you say, it still seems like my point is valid.
January 13th, 2010 at 12:25 pm
Great story Nick. You touched on all of the reasons why I want an electric car, especially the low cost of maintenance and operation.
I dream about whizzing around town, without burning any fuel. And, I dream about having a solar panel on the roof and rarely plugging in. Thankfully, we are finally starting down that road to the future.
Beyond the Middle East issue, there are plenty of practical reasons to go electric and abandon costly and dirty fuels. Greed and corruption have kept us shackled to oil for over a century. Now, electric technology may displace those pollution peddlers.
January 13th, 2010 at 12:52 pm
Oil is a fungible commodity. Even if we don’t buy our oil from Evil Dictators(TM), the oil we buy comes out of the world pool of oil, creating more global demand for it and raising the price for everyone, even those who buy it from Evil Dictators(TM).
January 13th, 2010 at 3:54 pm
Sorry Nick, but you’ve got too many holes in your list.
# 1 & 2_ You seem to have forgotten about wheel bearings, brake linings, air conditioning equipment, heating systems, steering gear, tires, motor bearings, (yes, electric motors do have bearings, I’ve changed many.) cabin air filters, those are now becoming common items, and many other little items, some of which are new.
# 3_ Gas Stations will be replaced with fuel stops for bio-fuel and charging stations for pure electric vehicles, if the range ever gets great enough for more than short trips.
# 6_ Why do you assume that the government will not make electricity rates unstable when they don’t have gasoline to mess with?
# 7_ The “Quiet Bliss” that you are promoting at higher speeds will not be caused by electric motor propulsion. The vast majority of noise in cars at higher speeds now is caused by “road noise”. This is noise caused by tires slapping over tar strips, and road irregularities. The benefits of aerodynamics is applicable to all without regard to type of propulsion and there are now many cars, and trucks, that are very quiet inside simply because of the sound insulation and the presence in some vehicles of active noise suppression, adapted from noise silencing headsets.
# 8 and 9_ Energy security has nothing to do with the motive power source for our vehicles. You also left out our own reserves of petroleum, not only those offshore, but those located in Montana and the Dakotas, which in addition to fuel is a raw material for many products.
# 10_ This is again giving credit to electric vehicles for a change in our energy sources that has noting to do with electric vehicles.
# 11_ Reduced usage of fossil fuels will in the short term result in cleaner air, but the reduced demand and therefore price will create an incentive to develop ways to clean the fossil fuels.
January 13th, 2010 at 6:15 pm
ChuckL,
Surprise, Surprise! Look who crawled out of the woodwork to try and shoot holes in one of my posts
You’re becoming too predictable. The only time you ever speak up anymore is to say something bad about something I wrote. C’est la vie, I suppose. I really don’t know why you have a personal vendetta against me, but it is getting a bit old on my end.
I gotta say, reading through your list of complaints it seems like you’re really stretching on some of them—you come across as simply shooting holes in my list just for the sake of trying to shoot holes in my list.
First off, I’d like to suggest that you—and other readers for that matter—take a big picture view of this list and remember that I didn’t include every possible point in my quick descriptions for brevity and readability’s sake.
Anyway, my rebuttal:
#1 & #2: I didn’t forget about any of those things. I purposely didn’t include them as they are, for the most part, minor service items that really don’t break that often. Compared to how often you’re in the shop for worn out engine, exhaust, and lubrication related things, items such as air filters, brake pads, tires, and the like really don’t cost that much over the life of a vehicle. Sure air conditioning and heating systems can cost some bucks to fix, but on a modern car they don’t fail that often and are therefore a small cost over the life of a vehicle… and bearings? Seriously? You think bearings are going to fail frequently? It’s *fairly* robust tech at this point.
Also, I challenge you to come up with a list of the “many other items, some of which are new” which will cost lots of money on EVs. I’ve talked with the head engineers of Ford’s EV program and Nissan’s EV program in detail about these things. I didn’t make any of it up on my own.
#3: Firstly, we’re talking about EVs here, not biofuel powered vehicles. Secondly, like I said in the post, eventually there will be charge points all over the place and you might use them occasionally when you’re shopping or while you’re parked at work, but they will certainly not take the place of gas stations. For the 85% of people who drive less than 50 miles a day, you will never need to use a charge point and charging at home in your garage will suffice for almost all of your travel.
#6: Why do you assume that they will? Electricity rates are a completely different animal than oil prices. There’s far less speculation and they are stable precisely because of government regulations. Again, I challenge you to come up with some thesis as to why and how the “government” would destabilize electricity rates.
#7: You are completely wrong on that one. Engine noise accounts for a large proportion of the noise coming from a car running at highway speeds. Modern cars are better insulated so that the occupants don’t hear the engine noise, but that doesn’t mean that everybody else around you doesn’t hear it. Also, all EVs will be equipped with low rolling resistance tires, which will greatly cut down on tire noise. Again, I challenge you to find the statistics to support your argument that combustion engines don’t contribute heavily to car noise at high speeds.
#8 & #9: What? Your logic is mind boggling on this one. “Energy security has nothing to do with the motive power source for our vehicles.” Ex squeeze me? Given that a huge amount of our energy requirements come from driving vehicles, I don’t see how you can possibly say that without going red in the face. No other energy source besides electricity can be made from such a diverse variety of things. Liquid fuel can only be made from petroleum, natural gas, and organisms (biofuels). Try making liquid fuel from wind geothermal, nuclear, etc. How is that not more secure? And, how is the fact that almost all of our electricity is made from domestically derived sources not more secure? Simply mind boggling.
#10: You’re backwards on this one. My point isn’t that electric vehicles create the change, my point is that by driving electric vehicles you help support the change. By driving gas powered vehicles you do nothing but perpetuate the status quo.
#11: So what? Eventually driving electric cars could be 100% emissions free. Driving cars with fossil fuels will never be 100% emissions free. Your point eludes me.
January 13th, 2010 at 11:04 pm
Nick,
You have such a great blog.I think its time for people to understand that we should all take drastic measures in saving the environment and fight high oil prices which are manipulated by selfish oil companies,regardless of their strategic locations.I totally agree that EV’s are quite remarkable and should be the first revolutionary step in environmental awareness.
P.S.
To people who debate on the benefits of EV’s from an environmental standpoint,I suggest you take an hour of standing in the middle of a busy street congested with traffic and smog and let’s see how much toxin and carbon emissions you can take before you get sick and vomit, because that’s how Mother Nature feels this whole time.
Great post!!!!!I plan to get my own EV car before the year ends!
January 25th, 2010 at 10:03 am
What is the coolant that needs to be changed on an Electric Vehicle, in reason number two?
I thought the motors, electronics and batteries were air cooled.
January 25th, 2010 at 3:40 pm
Marc,
That is a great question. When I talked with both the Ford and Nissan BEV engineers this was what they said. Certainly a pure electric car will likely be air cooled, but some components in pure EVs, in particular the motor, may need to be cooled with fluid. However, if you’re talking about a car like the Volt or a plug-in hybrid that still has a combustion engine in it, that engine will need to be liquid cooled. This whole list still applies to a car like that because for 90% of your driving it will be operating as an electric car. You will likely still need to get the fluid changed every 100,000 miles or so even if the engine is only used occasionally.