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The Rundown
Electric vehicles have been making headway as more and more popular brands and models have been adopting an electric powertrain. Most recently and most notably the Ford F-150 Lightning. The company that is still the most popular electric vehicle manufacturer, at least in the media, is Tesla. With all the impressive reports we hear on a daily basis about electric vehicles, a lot of people just wonder, is it too good to be true? There are a few downsides to owning an electric vehicle that we often do not hear about. The main problem with electric vehicles that we all know is their range, they can only go so far. On top of that electric vehicles have a few more issues.
A few of these challenges to EV owners are:
- Resale Value
- Charging Infrastructure
- Charging time
- Higher prices
These challenges are important to discuss for potential EV owners and can limit the drive to purchase a high end electric vehicle.
Resale Value
This is probably one of the most under-discussed topics when it comes to EVs. Cars are already the most depreciative purchase we can possibly make, and EVs sometimes depreciate a lot faster. This is because electric batteries are progressing rapidly, improving year after year, great right? Unfortunately, not for someone who has a range of only 250 miles and wants to sell their EV for some of the newer models that come close to 400 miles. Older batteries with smaller ranges make for a huge downturn in a possible resale and can make it difficult to even sell the car sometimes. As humans we tend to want the latest and greatest, and this applies almost doubly so to electric vehicles. But consider carefully the resale value at time of purchase.
Charging Infrastructure
This might not alienate many buyers of EVs, simply because most owners charge their EV at home, and they do not need to go too far from home. On the off chance you do want to take your EV farther, like for a road trip, there are just not enough charging stations in America to make it viable everywhere. While some states are better than others, in general there are not enough charging stations to get an EV long distance in a successful manner. So road-trippers and long-distance drivers need to really think about whether this is the type of engine that will work for them
Charging Time
Speaking of charging, let’s talk about how long it takes. On a level 1 charger? Forget about it, that will literally take hours. Depending on the car battery, a level 1 charger can take up to 18 hours to fully charge a larger EV. Level 2 chargers drastically improve that time and make it around 6-10 hours depending on battery size and output. The only viable charger for long distance trips would be a level 3 charger, as these can charge an empty battery in 30 minutes. However, most of these locations are few and far in between and not all stations are compatible with all vehicles. This is because there are four different types of charge ports present on electric vehicles in America. Charging times can drastically affect if an electric vehicle is the right purchase for you. So before you commit to this highly priced purchase, check what battery size you would be purchasing and see how many charge stations are around you or on your typical routes.
Higher Entry Costs
EVs are generally pricier. This is due to many reasons, but many of the vehicles that are more popular EVs are considered luxury vehicles or come on companies’ top tier vehicles. While there are more affordable options in the EV market, these come at other high costs with ranges below 100 miles and very cheap materials. This means that getting an EV is out of the price range for many Americans, and a more affordable fuel efficient car like a hybrid or even internal combustion engine would be a better option.
Summary
While there are many pros to electric cars such as the ease of powering at home, more cargo space, quicker acceleration and more, there are still quite a few cons to consider. These challenges to owners and potential buyers are not to be considered lightly, and it is important when purchasing any vehicle to check all the pros and cons. Electric vehicles may be the car of the future, but the future may not be here just yet.