Do you want an electric car? You may want to save fuel money. You may want to cut greenhouse gases. Australia needs electric cars for net zero. But people say bad things about electric cars and say electric cars can’t go far. Users say many people can’t charge at home and electric vehicles cost too much. End users notice resale value is bad and that insurance costs are high. They say electric vehicles hurt roads more.
They say mining for electric cars is bad, it uses child labor. Are these things true? Let’s discuss it.
Driving Range in Electric Car
In 2014, electric vehicles went 160 to 210 kilometers. Today, new models go 300 to 600 kilometers. In Australia, cars travel 12,100 kilometers a year. That’s 33.2 kilometers a day. New models have enough battery for this.
Access to chargers
What about long trips? Drivers worry about finding chargers. Public chargers often have long lines. Charging stations don’t always work. Public chargers can’t keep up with demand. Short trips are fine. 90% of owners charge at home or work. Long trips are harder. Home chargers are cheaper now. But not everyone has off-street parking. Some use cables over sidewalks. This is not safe.
People in apartments can’t install private chargers. They can’t put up solar panels. This makes charging cheaper.
Purchase costs
Electric vehicles cost more than petrol cars now. In 2023, a new petrol car in Australia cost $40,916. A battery electric car cost $117,785. But averages are tricky. Expensive cars make the average high. Some electric vehicles cost a lot. For example, the Porsche Taycan Turbo S costs $374,000. The Mercedes-AMG EQS 53 costs $327,000.
Three models make up 70% of sales. These are the Tesla Model Y ($60,900), Tesla Model 3 ($58,900), and BYD Atto 3 ($48,011). Prices are dropping fast. The Model 3 was $66,000 in 2019. Now you can get the GWM ORA or MG4 Excite MY23 for $39,990.
New technology usually gets cheaper. We notice this with electric vehicles because they cost a lot.
Secondhand value for electric car
Resale values are a concern. Used electric cars’ value fell 21% by January 2024. This was more than petrol cars. A high initial price does not mean high resale value. Early buyers valued the technology. New buyers have different priorities.
As technology improves, resale values could improve too.
Insurance costs
Insurance costs more for electric cars. It’s about 20% more. Electric vehicles cost more to buy. New technology is expensive to produce and replace. The supply chain for parts is still growing. There are fewer trained technicians.
As the market grows, insurance costs should drop.
Environmental damage
A study said electric cars are worse for the environment. They are heavier. They cause more tire wear and braking. This makes small particles called PM10. But this study compared electric vehicles’ tire and brake particles to petrol cars’ tailpipe particles. It didn’t compare apples to apples.
More studies say electric vehicles, especially small ones, make less PM10.
Slavery in the supply chain
Slavery concerns are real. Electric car batteries need cobalt. 70% of cobalt comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo. 20% comes from small mines. These mines often use child labor. Cobalt from these mines goes into many products. People worry about electric vehicles but not other products like phones.
We need to fix these issues in supply chains.
The good outweighs the bad
Buying an electric car is worth it if you want one. Operating costs are lower. Public charger issues are rare. Prices are dropping fast. This is because there are more cheap electric cars now.
Electric car demand is not falling. More electric vehicles are on the road now. Technology is getting better. Some cars can give power back to the grid. This can help lower energy bills.
Most barriers to electric vehicles are not real barriers. Or they won’t be soon.
To read our blog on “Xiaomi will start delivering SU7 electric car this month,” click here