It is unbelievable how much technology has improved since the first car was produced. People went from thinking that an electric-powered car was impossible in the 1900s to actually admiring the pieces of manufacture that big brands like Tesla were able to come up with during the 21st Century. The E.V. initiative became so famous around the world that multiple governments started to promote it since they see it as a way to decrease emissions and contribute positively to climate change, along with other advantages. However, rumors started going around that, in reality, E.V. is equally or even worse than gas-powered cars if we are talking about harmfulness.

Overview

The first electric car was created by William Morrison from Iowa, U.S., in 1890. It was considered not a great success since the model had many problems around the carriage system. However, it was an excellent start for the other companies to keep that idea in mind for the future. The fact that it did not work as well as expected was why you probably never heard about this project; even most of the people who lived close to where it was presented did not notice it. But again, this served to make car brands brainstorm on how they could take this idea and make it prosperous; that is what happened more than 100 years later.

First production electric car:

“A response to a mandate by Californian regulators to increase the production and sale of zero-emissions vehicles” is how Top Gear described the GM EV1. This was the first electric car made by General Motors in the U.S. It was considered a high-technology engineering car, relatively fast for its horsepower and very modern, taking on the count that it was made in the 90s. Unfortunately, it was also not as successful as they had hoped, not because the car had a lot of issues but because the project itself was too expensive. G.M. stated that they were losing money for every EV1 that they made, plus it needed to generate more profit to keep it going. They decided to halt production of their innovation and shift focus to what they could afford. 

Detailed specs of the EV1 are below:

• Top Speed: 165mph
• 0-60 in under 8 seconds
• Horsepower: 137
• Weight: 1360 kg
• Range: 100-140 miles
• Price: $34K (90’s)

Electric cars during the 21st Century:

Jumping to the twenty-first Century, many companies began to join the electric car club by presenting their high-range models, with Apple Play and Android Auto, built-in WiFi, and most of them do not even include a dashboard. Instead, they put a screen the size of an iPad Pro Max and extra storage space since it has no engine but batteries, mainly located on the bottom of the car. This electric-powered car campaign from many car brands started to contribute to climate change, decrease pollution and conventional gas usage, and other aspects that these companies made up. It has been proven that it is slightly better than driving a regular gas car, but does it make them the best choice? Don’t you think it looks and sounds too good to be true? Only hear positive comments about them but not the negative? That is because people still need to do their research about what type of car they are using and, most importantly, how it can harm the planet.

Pros and Cons:

Some of the pros of having an electric car for daily usage are that, as previously mentioned, they have no tailpipe emissions, which makes them environmentally friendly. Since they have batteries instead of an engine, they make little to no noise (which may be a con for some users), are relatively cheaper to “refuel,” or in this case, “recharge,” low maintenance, and you would be able to charge your car at home.

Now, some of the cons are that the batteries are costly, your driving is basically limited because of the amount of range, you would have to wait more than half an hour to get your car up and running again when charging it, and if you want to do it at home and not in a public charger, you’ll have to face waiting hours of up to 6, and that is just if you are using a fast charger. Along with charging your car at home, higher electricity bills will fill your pocket. There is no need to say it since it is obvious, but their initial purchase price is much higher. Finding a qualified mechanic may be challenging since electric cars are more complex than gas cars. As a result, you might feel compelled to take your vehicle to the manufacturer’s designated service center, which can be costly.

What nobody talks about or knows:

EV batteries are costly to make, their manufacturing results in higher carbon emissions compared to conventional gas cars, they are worse for the environment than the production of fossil fuel vehicle batteries, they are made up of toxic materials, and the materials used require deep-seabed mining of the ocean. As the race for electric cars increases, it is clear that the ocean risk will also increase significantly because of the massive demand from people worldwide. What would the world’s destiny be if we all drive E.V.s only one day? California State in the U.S. is an example of this. They are going fully “green” by 2030; imagine what would happen if the entire U.S. does the same. We would run out of resources because of the intense demand for these cars and their battery production. Another example is car brands like Volkswagen, General Motors, Volvo, Jaguar, and more, which are planning to go electric in their entirety by as soon as 2025.

Conclusion:

Are you making the best choice by choosing an E.V. rather than a gas car? Can they secure a great future for the world? Would we have a lack of electricity first before a lack of fuel? These are some of the questions that this article wants to get you out of with, making you think twice if you plan to spend a whole lot of money on a piece of engineering that promises good things but would never tell you their heavy cons, because at the end of the day, the only thing they care about the most is their profit, and how they can benefit for themselves.