Problems with EVs

By: Krish R.

       During one episode of the Grand Tour, Richard Hammond was driving a Rimac electric supercar. Richard Hammond misjudged the turning point of a corner, and the Rimac went down a hillside and caught on fire, which destroyed the car.  Richard Hammond narrowly escaped that crash,suffering a fractured leg, brain damage, and a coma. Electric vehicles are environmentally friendly and considered engineering marvels; these factors might make owning one seem enticing, but a lack of charging stations, poor reliability, and extreme safety concerns can discourage EV owners. Solutions are being developed to address these issues, but the technology will take a long time to fix.

       Electric cars face many problems that make them seem less practical for consumers.  An example of this is their limited range. Unlike combustion engine cars that can travel almost 375 miles on a single tank of gas, EVs need to be recharged after 250-300 miles. A car that is heavier or has a greater drag coefficient will have less range than a sleek car, no matter the battery size. The range of an EV is around 100-300 miles, depending on the weight and drag coefficient of the car. A long or multi-leg journey will be an absolute nightmare for EV owners. 

       Another challenge is the lack of charging stations in some areas. In Albany there are only 526 charging stations, but almost 4,000 gas stations. EV owners also suffer from a phenomenon known as range anxiety, which is a fear of running out of electricity before reaching a charging station. Nearly 50% of EV owners go back to using gas-powered cars due to factors like reliability and safety.

        Coram, a Chevrolet Bolt owner, was a victim to the overly complicated computer of the car; “Coram, 44, a heating and air conditioning technician, said he ran into one annoying problem: On a chilly day in mid-November, his Bolt wouldn’t shift into drive.” The car found starting up and going into drive too much and stopped working. After an extensive restart sequence, the car was finally driveable. EVs have more complex computers than gas-powered cars, and the computers are more likely to malfunction. Evs are likely to have 79-80% more problems and malfunctions than ICE vehicles.

        Jake Fisher, senior director of Auto Testing, said, “This story is really one of growing pains,” and, “It’s a story of just working out the bugs and the kinks of new technology.” If legacy automotive companies such as Honda worked on electric cars for five decades and suddenly switched to internal combustion engine cars, then the ICE-powered cars would be just as reliable as electric cars today. Even though an electric vehicle’s capabilities would be enticing, the reliability of a combustion engine is more practical and usable. Electric trucks have the worst reliability in the entire segment. 

        Electric vehicles have the potential to be a more attractive and accessible option for drivers worldwide, but right now the inexperience in building all electric vehicles is low. EVs have a 0.0012% chance of catching on fire, but they will burn hotter than gas-powered cars. As Jeremy Clarkson once famously said, “ If you crash an electric car, it will catch fire, and when the fire brigade comes, they normally only have water on board, so as you are sitting in a burning electric car you will then be electrocuted.” 

       Electric cars aren’t worth the maintenance, cost, and stress, but with a few more decades of testing and improvements, they might be good cars to drive and very reliable and cheap. Right now the electric car is an expensive car to maintain and buy.