Electric cars are dumb.
Energy density of Petrol/gasoline = 12.4kWh per kilo (about a litre)
Energy density of li-ion batteries = 0.24kWh per kilo
So you need 51x the weight for the same energy stored and batteries do not get lighter as you use them, you have haul that weight around.
By volume, batteries take up about 13x more space than equivalent petrol.
Filling a tank takes 2minutes. Filling a battery on a domestic charger takes hours. The fastest chargers have power supplies like factories - 350kw chargers. You need a neighborhood scale substation for that.
Plus you still need to put energy into it from some other fuel source that was used to generate the electricity - like gas, coal or nuke. Electricity is not technically a fuel, nor is Hydrogen, because you need energy to create it, usually more energy than you can subsequently use for "work".
Road transport energy use is about equal to all current electrical energy used. So to switch to electric vehicles would demand a very significant upgrade of the electric grid (which is not happening) or a large fall in the numbers using transport (cough) or a reduction in population (cough cough).
Carbon dioxide is often mooted as another reason to switch to EVs, but carbon dioxide is not a problem - we could do with more of it - and even if it were, the embodied carbon in an EV battery is equal to a normal car that does 10,000 miles a year for EIGHT years. How long do the batteries last....about 8 years. Major fail.
Performance is also rubbish, as is range, complexity, and they don't have very good heaters for cold weather (you will use a lot of power to generate heat)
Normal cars also have the advantage that satellites cannot turn you off or ban you from going to certain places (that is coming soon ladies, if they get their way).
Electric cars are dumb. Energy density of Petrol/gasoline = 12.4kWh per kilo (about a litre) Energy density of li-ion batteries = 0.24kWh per kilo So you need 51x the weight for the same energy stored and batteries do not get lighter as you use them, you have haul that weight around.
By volume, batteries take up about 13x more space than equivalent petrol.
Filling a tank takes 2minutes. Filling a battery on a domestic charger takes hours. The fastest chargers have power supplies like factories - 350kw chargers. You need a neighborhood scale substation for that.
Plus you still need to put energy into it from some other fuel source that was used to generate the electricity - like gas, coal or nuke. Electricity is not technically a fuel, nor is Hydrogen, because you need energy to create it, usually more energy than you can subsequently use for "work".
Road transport energy use is about equal to all current electrical energy used. So to switch to electric vehicles would demand a very significant upgrade of the electric grid (which is not happening) or a large fall in the numbers using transport (cough) or a reduction in population (cough cough).
Carbon dioxide is often mooted as another reason to switch to EVs, but carbon dioxide is not a problem - we could do with more of it - and even if it were, the embodied carbon in an EV battery is equal to a normal car that does 10,000 miles a year for EIGHT years. How long do the batteries last....about 8 years. Major fail.
Performance is also rubbish, as is range, complexity, and they don't have very good heaters for cold weather (you will use a lot of power to generate heat)
Normal cars also have the advantage that satellites cannot turn you off or ban you from going to certain places (that is coming soon ladies, if they get their way).
I watch Top Gear and The Grand Tour. Electric car technology is not there yet. They're crap.