Elmer and Other FUD Don’t Believe Everything You Hear About Electric Vehicles

BY DAVE ERB

High gas prices, energy security, a desire for greater resilience, and a host of other factors are driving record interest in electric vehicles (EVs). But that interest has brought backlash: rampant misinformation intended to sow fear, uncertainty and doubt among potential EV buyers, scaring them into buying “just one more” internal combustion vehicle (ICV). For those who want the clean, quiet, low

EVs’ lower maintenance and operating costs.

2: Charging is unavailable, unreliable, and takes too long.

EV charging takes the driver 20 seconds: 10 to plug in, and 10 to unplug. The car takes longer, but that only matters on a road trip, or if you can’t charge at home or work. So let’s put things in perspective. It takes three hours to drive 200 miles at highway speeds. Most newer EVs can go 250-300 parked almost 22 hours a day, and charging can take place any time they’re parked. The grid has adequate capacity to charge tens of millions of EVs, today, even without managing the charging times through demand response programs, attractive rate structures, and other means. As the EV population grows, utilities and individuals will build any necessary additional capacity, just like they did in the past to accommodate the widespread adoption of air conditioning, and as they do every day to accommodate human population growth. maintenance, high performance of electric mobility but worry about this new technology, here is the truth about some common misconceptions.

It just takes a few minutes of homework on a website like ABetterRoutePlanner.com or PlugShare.com. Better yet, use both: plan your trip with ABRP, then check PlugShare’s crowdsourced status reports to be sure that ABRP isn’t sending you to any unreliable or broken chargers which, unfortunately, do exist. And remember, we’re still in the early stages of a very dynamic transition. New chargers are being installed daily, and competent competitors are quickly putting inept operators out of business.

3: EVs are just coal-fired cars with longer tailpipes; hence, dirtier than ICVs.

5: EVs are just city cars, unsuitable for rural owners.

1: EVs are too expensive.

All new cars are expensive, and the average new EV costs about 20 percent more than the average new car. But averages are deceptive. Well over half of the EVs sold in the U.S. are Teslas — expensive luxury cars. But plenty of new EVs sell for well below the average new car price, even without the Inflation Reduction Act tax credits. And new car depreciation is one of the only places in society where trickle-down economics actually works as advertised. Used EVs are the most obvious path to affordability, even before considering miles on a charge, and virtually all have DC fast charge (DCFC, also known colloquially as Level 3) capability, which can replenish 200 miles in 30-80 minutes (usually closer to 30). Unlike a gas pump, you don’t have to babysit an EV charger while it’s filling your car. Plan your meal breaks right, and you won’t add any significant time to your road trip. But when you’re not traveling, you won’t have to stop at gas stations, and you’ll save money compared to the much higher operating cost of an ICV.

It’s true that you can’t yet hop in your EV and set off on a road trip in blind ignorance, trusting there will be chargers wherever you wake up. But it’s also true that today, you can travel conveniently almost anywhere in the U.S. with 200+ mile range and a DCFC port.

Vehicle emissions, for EVs and ICVs alike, are best analyzed over the entire “field to wheels” energy cycle, starting at the oil field, coal field, corn field, or wherever primary energy is collected, and following that energy through all the conversions needed to get to where the rubber meets the road. The Union of Concerned Scientists has done some of the best studies of the subject. They show that charging the average EV in North Carolina results in greenhouse emissions equivalent to those from a 98 mile per gallon gasoline vehicle. Field to wheels emissions from the average EV are better than the best conventional ICVs in all but one place in the U.S. (the island of Oahu, Hawaii), and better than the best hybrids in almost the entire country (Fig. 2).

EV owners can also take matters into their own hands by installing photovoltaic solar panels. In WNC, 2,700 watts of PV panels will provide 12,000 miles per year of emissions-free driving in a typical EV consuming 300 watt-hours of energy per mile.

4: The electric grid can’t handle widespread EV adoption. Utilities are required to prepare for the worst possible hour of demand in a 15-year planning window. As long as EV owners avoid charging during the highest demand peak hours, the grid will have sufficient capacity. EV charging is a discretionary load; cars are

Electricity for an EV typically costs between $0.03 per mile (midsize car) and $0.06 per mile (full size pickup or SUV). At $3.00 per gallon, gas for a 30 mpg ICV costs $0.10 per mile. Rural residents drive far more miles than urban drivers, making the operational cost savings from an EV even more attractive. EVs with vehicle-to-load capability, such as the Ford F-150 Lightning pickup, can even power a house during a power outage, and drive to a working charger to bring home a truckload of electricity if the outage lasts more than a few days.

There are numerous other widespread misconceptions about EVs, most of them false or, at the very least, overblown. If you’re considering an EV, please ignore the doubters, and talk to someone with actual experience owning and operating one. Here in Western North Carolina, the Blue Ridge EV Club holds regular meetups and car shows. Members can help prospective owners separate fact from fiction, and help new owners quickly navigate the learning curve of first time EV ownership.

Automotive engineer Dave Erb has developed vehicles using gasoline, diesel, biodiesel, alcohol, methane gas, alcohol, electric, and hybrid electric powertrains. He wrote Chapter 1 of David Hrivnak’s “Driving to Net 0: Stories of Hope for a CarbonFree Future,” and hasn’t bought gasoline since 2 019.