I understand it was always an appealing choice to a small subset of customers (have charging stations at home / work, only travel relatively short distances, etc) but all the disadvantages of EV that people are pointing out now were even worse a few years ago – like high purchase prices, range concerns, batteries underperforming in cold weather, lack of infrastructure, repairability etc.
What was the actual driver behind the massive EV boom?
In: Engineering
As someone that bought an EV in 2011, I feel I can speak to this.
Before 2010, the only electric cars available were basically glorified golf carts using led-acid batteries, and the Tesla Roadster. The golf carts cost as much as a mid-priced ICE car, and the Roadster cost $99,000 (nearly $150,000 in today’s dollars). Neither of these options was attractive to me, or to most people.
In December 2010 Nissan started delivering its Leaf in the USA. It had a list price as low as $32,780, and you could get a $7500 tax credit on you federal taxes. With a net price of $25,280 the leaf was well below that cost of most of the glorified golf carts. It probably had twice the range, twice the speed, and twice the creature comforts of the golf carts. And it came with things like a decent (8 year I think) battery warranty. It was an apples to oranges situation.
Unlike others that are crediting Tesla, I give the credit to Nissan for getting the EV ball rolling. After all, the Leaf came out a year and a half before the Tesla Model S did, was under 1/2 the price of most of the Model S trim levels, and it was the world’s top selling EV until 2020 when the Tesla Model 3 took the top spot.
And if you think that I’m giving credit to Nissan because that’s what I bought, you would be wrong. I bought, and still own, the now all but forgotten Mitsubishi I-miev.
It was undoubtedly advances in lithium-ion battery technology (and thus decreases in cost) that allowed Nissan to bring the Leaf to market. But, in my view, it was the Leaf that caused the meteoric rise of electric vehicles.
With that covered, let me address your list of disadvantages:
– High purchase prices — Yes, for a similarly equipped vehicle they tend to be more expensive. But not hugely so. And there are offsets. They are cheaper to run than ICE cars. The “fuel” is much less, but maintenance costs are generally less also (unless you need to replace a battery).
– Range concerns — For me I have more range anxiety with my ICE cars than with my electric cars. With an ICE car I might be running late and then realize I need to stop for gas. 😖 With my EV, if I plug it in every night, I always have a full “tank” in the morning — no worries!
– Batteries underperforming in cold weather — Yes they do. EVs don’t do well in extreme cold. This is a real problem. But then again the news doesn’t report on how many ICE cars wouldn’t start at -30 F.
– Lack of infrastructure — Again this is a real concern. In my view, EVs are currently only a good fit for people that can plug in at home.
– Repairability — This can be a problem when they need it, but they generally need a lot less repair than ICE cars. I’ve had a couple of major issues (battery replaced under warranty, charger failed not under warranty). But after owning my I-miev for 13 years and 130,000 miles, it is still running it’s original brake pads!
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