This Is Why You Don’t Want An EV

There’s no doubt that Tesla played a massive role in EV adoption. Its first model, the Roadster, nearly bankrupted the company, but when the Model S hit the streets, it quickly proved that the electric vehicle wasn’t just a viable alternative, but much better in many ways. Tesla effectively toppled the first domino, and legacy automakers had to respond. Back in 2012, the Model S had the playing field to itself, but now there are over 100 different EVs available.

It looked like EVs were going to take over, but then 2024 happened. Automakers bet big on the EV revolution, but the only country that has really caught the bug is China. In the USA, the second-largest automotive market in the world, EVs only accounted for 8.1% of all sales. That’s enough room for a few players, but certainly not enough for an entire industry. Several automakers backpedaled despite looming anti-ICE legislation, while other small manufacturers like Lotus are in serious trouble.

But why does this anti-EV sentiment exist? ScienceDirect did a substantial study on the topic and identified 17 barriers to EV adoption.

7

The Technology Isn’t There Yet

Range Remains A Big Concern

The car you see above is the Lucid Air Grand Touring, and it is officially the EV with the most range according to the EPA. On a full charge, the range is 512 miles, which is way more than the average person needs on a daily basis. Heck, it’s more than you need in a week if you look at the distance the average American travels in a day. But that’s not how we think about range, which is a massive marketing oversight for which EV makers need to take the blame.

At most, the average person is going to drive further than 500 miles only twice a year, unless your job is driving long distances on a daily basis, in which case it doesn’t apply. We reckon 300 miles is more than adequate, but ICE lovers hit back with models like the Toyota Tundra. It can do 700 miles, and you only need five minutes to fill it up, and then you can do another 700 miles.

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These cars will see you spending the least amount of time at the fast charger.

That brings us to our next problem, which is charging. Automakers love to quote 20% to 80% because that’s when a battery pack charges at its fastest. They neatly leave out that the final 20% can easily add another 20 minutes, and that’s only if you find a suitable charger.

Why does this matter, we hear the EV crowd ask? Well, we’ve seen several people mention that you might need more than 300 miles in an emergency. What if one of your parents has a heart attack, and they live 400 miles away? It’s a very specific example, but it does have some weight.

6

Built To Be Disposable

EV Batteries Aren’t Built To Last

It’s a fact that lithium-ion battery packs degrade over time. There are far too many factors in play to put a figure on it, but experts reckon that you lose about 1.8% per year. That means you’re looking at an average lifespan of 15 to 20 years. The average lifespan of an ICE car is closer to 17 years, and that’s just with the first owner. As we’ve seen many times on this website, if you treat a car right, it will easily reach a million miles.

There is a million-mile Tesla Model S out there, but there’s a massive caveat. To get to a million miles, it needed four battery swaps, and 13 new motors. The owner of this car was driven to get to a million miles, so he was willing to invest in repairs that just aren’t economical. In almost all cases, the price of a new battery pack is more than the worth of the car, so it’s scrapped. That’s because EVs depreciate faster than a torpedo-shaped piece of lead drops down the Mariana Trench.

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This is an entirely new way of buying cars, knowing that it will effectively be worthless in 20 years. An ICE car can always be passed down through the family until its wheels literally fall off.

5

Weight And Safety Concerns

Batteries Add Too Much Weight

The Hummer EV is by far the fattest of the lot, weighing in at roughly 9,000 lbs. The Rivian R1T is the safest electric vehicle you can buy, but scientists have also used this 7,000-lbs EV to demonstrate the dangers of heavier vehicles. In short, you can be driving a Mazda 3 hatch, which is one of the safest cars on the road, but that Top Safety Pick + Award means nothing if a 7,000-lb electric truck barrels into you at 60 mph.

We’ve also seen the effect on plug-in hybrids. The all-new BMW M5 weighs 5,368 pounds, and this is only because of an 18.6 kWh battery and plug-in components. That’s heavier than some of BMW’s SUVs, not to mention nearly 1,000 lbs heavier than the M5 it replaces. According to automakers, this problem will go away once the mass-production of solid-state batteries starts, but we’re still at least five years away from that reality.

4

Limited Availability At The Lower End

There Aren’t Any Cheap EVs

Slate nearly broke the internet when it announced a low-tech pickup truck with a $20,000 starting price, if you include federal incentives. Sure, it could be the styling, and the down-to-earth nature, but the biggest drawing card has to be the low price. If you look at the list of the cheapest EVs available in the USA, things only really start getting interesting when you arrive at the doorstep of the $35,000 Equinox EV. And that’s the base model. What you really want is a Rivian R2, and the estimated price for that is $45k.

It’s no small wonder the Honda Civic remains in the tenth spot of the best-selling cars in the USA, with the Camry in eighth. These are trusted cars that are bolted together properly, costing between $23,000 and $35,000.

3

The Environmental Impact

Where Does The Power Come From?

If you’re a keen observer, you’ll have noticed that automakers love the term “zero tailpipe emissions.” That part is true. There are no tailpipe emissions because there is no tailpipe. But EVs still pollute because their tires wear down. And then there’s the big question of where the power comes from. Some EV owners plug it into a wall, not thinking where the electricity comes from, but in the US most of the power comes from natural gas, coal, and nuclear. It’s an unfortunate truth.

Then there’s the process of making batteries. Mining lithium releases toxic fumes, and it poisons water. And then there’s the whole cobalt slavery thing, not that ICE drivers can take the moral high ground here. Smartphones also contain cobalt, so basically the whole world is guilty.

According to Earth.org, you have to drive an EV for at least eight years before you reach a point where there’s an offset between damage done when the car was built, and the lower impact it had on the planet after it was built. That’s just as the standard warranty for all EVs runs out, so it’s likely when a customer will go buy a new one.

2

Infrastructure Problems, And Lack Of Charging Options

Not As Easy For Everyone

There are three issues we need to address here, but first we have to admit that a home charger is a game-changer. The first problem is that a large portion of people who live in the USA don’t have a garage. Are you supposed to run a cable from your flat to the car, and what happens when it rains?

The second issue is the lack of charging stations. During the daily rat race, the current charging system can cope, but we’ve all seen what happens when Thanksgiving arrives. People stand in a line for hours, waiting their turn to charge. Always using a fast charger is not good for the battery, so there’s something else you have to worry about.

Finally, there’s the question about the US power grid. At the moment, the grid can sustain the 8.1% of EVs sold, but once that figure grows to 13%, some radical changes will be required. According to MIT, these changes include adding more energy sources, and upgrading existing infrastructure to cope with higher loads. On the consumer side, vehicles will need bigger batteries (even more weight), vehicle-to-grid capacity (so they can feed power back into the grid), and charging vehicles during off-peak hours. That’s annoying, because gas is always available. You don’t have to wait a few hours for an optimal time to fill your tank.

1

People Just Aren’t Interested

A Hard Truth

If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you have an emotional connection to cars. You love the power, the noise, the speed, and the imperfections of internal combustion that give it so much character. You’d gladly trade one of your kidneys for a Porsche Carrera, a Ferrari 458 Italia, a Pagani Zonda F, or a Lexus LFA Nürburgring Package. But what if I told you that the Porsche Taycan Turbo GT is more than 30 seconds faster around the Nürburgring than all the cars above?

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Discussion: What are your objective reasons for not buying an EV?

We know buying a car is subjective, but if you could separate the emotional aspects from the process, what would make you buy and EV over a gas-fed car? The average driving range of an EVs is now more than most people drive daily, you have the ability to top up on charging in the evening, EVs have proven to be just as reliable, and coss are coming down – so what other reasons are there for not buying an electric vehicle?

Obviously, you’d want that more, but no. Personally, I’d have the 458 because that NA V8 changed my life. I don’t care that the EV is faster because I don’t have the talent to set a lap that fast, and I don’t live next to the Nürburgring. Now that EVs have become the kings of straight-line performance, people are looking for experiences more than anything else. And while there are next-gen EVs like the Ioniq 5 N that mimic an ICE car very convincingly, there’s still something extremely appealing about a powerful engine in the front, a gearbox in the middle, and drive going to the rear wheels.

Source: ScienceDirect, Earth.org,