Fancy electric cars represent the future of the auto industry. But, just because there’s an increase in desire for electric cars, doesn’t mean that they will be better than gas cars. Automakers can make proclamations as much as they want, but nobody can sweep more than 100 years of history behind gas-powered cars under the rug. Electric cars offer some advantages, but they still have a long way to go to prove that they’re better than gas-powered cars. In this blog, we discuss the reasons why gas-powered vehicles are superior to their electric counterparts.
Driving Distance
Automakers have done a great job at extending the mileage range of electric vehicles. However, they still can’t compete with the mileage offered between fill-ups by gas powered vehicles. If you decide to go the electric car route, there’s a chance that you’re getting a car with a battery range of 150 to 200 miles. These numbers are low when compared to gas-powered vehicles. For most gas-powered vehicles, the average mileage you could get per tank of gas is 300 to 400 miles.
Lack of Charging
With electric cars becoming more popular there’s bound to be a plethora of charging stations, right? Wrong–gas stations outnumber charging stations at a ratio of 1,000:1. Now imagine taking a 300-mile road trip, in a fuel-efficient car you can make that trip on 1 tank of gas. Now, taking that same trip in an electric car might be tricky. You’re all but guaranteed to stop at a charging station because you’ll run out of juice before even making it halfway. In some areas where charging stations are plentiful that wouldn’t be a problem, but in places where there aren’t many charging stations it can become a nuisance.
Speaking of charging stations there’s something else to be said about them and the time it takes to charge an electric car’s batteries. If you’re in a rush, charging your car’s battery can be an issue. Even “fast” charging stations take up to 30 minutes to charge a car’s battery pack to 80%–that’s not even a full charge! So, it’s best to come to grips early with the fact that you’ll be spending more time waiting for your car batteries to charge as opposed to filling up a car’s gas tank.
Maintenance & Replacement Costs
Yes, it’s true that buying an electric car saves you on gas. But just because you save on fuel, doesn’t mean you’ll save on everything else. The battery packs in electric cars, for example, are expensive to replace. A used battery pack can cost around $1,000 per kWh–multiply that by the battery’s total output and you’re looking at $15,000 to $20,000 to replace your car’s battery. There’s no guarantee that you’re going to have to replace your battery, however, there’s a good chance a replacement will be in order once your vehicle gets older. Who knows, you might even have to do it more than once over the lifetime of the vehicle and that cost isn’t even taking other issues that could arise during the car’s lifetime into consideration.
Affordability
Automakers have done a great job at keeping the price points of their electric cars reasonable–yet they still are pricier than your average gas-powered vehicle. Even with reasonable price points some can’t afford an electric car, at least when compared to the cost of gas cars. By large, most consumers still prefer gas-powered cars because they are generally softer on the wallets.
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There will come a point when electric cars will dominate the road. That seems like a very likely conclusion now that automakers have shifted focus into developing as many electric vehicles as they can. But that day hasn’t arrived yet. For now, gas-powered cars still rule the roost.
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