🚗 The Automobile War: EV vs. ICE

Is purchasing an Electric Vehicle a smart choice in 2024? Let's put an end to the EV Vs traditional ICE vehicle debate once and for all.

Well, I have been researching the EV market for a long time and there are a lot of misconceptions that I would like to debate and provide counter-arguments for all the hate towards EVs.

😾 Why do people hate EVs?

There are a large number of reasons why people hate EVs right from the toy-like-driving experience to range anxiety. But I wanted to touch upon two of the underlying reasons why people hate EVs.

1. Apples Vs Oranges I strongly believe it’s very inappropriate to compare EVs Vs ICE (internal combustion engines). Because you are essentially comparing a product that has been in the market from the 1920s till now Vs a product which is just one to two decades old. Even though electric cars were introduced well before the ICE, the EVs have not undergone any major upgrades or iterations as the ICE has gone through.
   

2. Hypocrisy on Clean Energy Another major reason why people are against EVs is cause - the electricity is not clean and it is still emitting CO2 similar to the ICE engines, since the electricity is produced from burning coals which is leaving a huge carbon footprint.
   

But hold on, take a look at the below picture.

Can you guess it? What difference can you spot?

So, there are emissions from different ICE vehicles whereas with EVs the emission is from a single coal plant. Electricity is produced usually from a single large power grid (hydro, thermal or coal) and it will be super easy to control & curb the emission coming from a single point of source (power plants) rather than controlling CO2 emissions coming from various sources - like cars, bikes, etc.

There is also data to prove this. Data from Statista has confirmed that we can witness 30% less emissions of CO2 by using EVs.

☠️ The Caveats

• Anxiety Issues - There are 2 anxiety issues with EVs: The Range Anxiety and the Charge Anxiety.

  • Range Anxiety is basically where people get afraid that the EV will NOT cover the distance to the destination and that it will run out of charge in the middle of nowhere. It is really scary to do long impromptu trips. Everything should be well planned while taking an EV right from the source and destination and pitstops to charge the battery.

  • Charge Anxiety is when even though people plan their pitstops so precisely, there are high odds that the charging infrastructure is not working.

"Through the end of Q1 2023, 20.8% of EV drivers using public charging stations experienced charging failures or equipment malfunctions that left them unable to charge their vehicles.”

- JD Power Report

• The Chicken and The Egg - Many countries are still figuring out which infrastructure to develop first. Should they provide tax incentives to buy EVs and then set up the charging stations? But what if they set up charging stations first and then promote EVs and no one buys them?
  

• Cold Weather - EVs don’t handle the cold very well. To be fair, gas-powered cars don’t, either, but the effects are often more noticeable with EVs because you can’t just fill ’em up. In Oslo, the EV capital of the EU, where 1-in-4 cars are electric and winter temps stay below freezing, this isn’t a problem. That’s because the Norwegians are prepared for it. The drivers are generally better at “preconditioning,” or warming up, their cars before a charge, which makes the process more efficient.
  

• Payment Issues - I have heard from a quite few of the EV owners from the Bay area that each charging station works differently and each has its own payment gateway or app that you need to download, set up an account and pay accordingly. It is so fragmented apparently. In worst cases, they have to call up customer care at the charging station to learn how to use the power chord.

There are other problems with EVs as well like fire hazards, battery degradation due to fast charging, toy-like-driving experience, battery disposal, re-sell value, etc.

👦🏻 My Recommendations

First things first, individuals should have a mindset change and not compare EVs with ICE engines. People are still expecting EVs to perform like gasoline. But it is not how it works.

• If you are a first-time car buyer, I would say to hold on for some time and prefer ICE engines since it will at least take half a decade for the EV infrastructure to grow and iterate.
  

• But if you are already own a petrol or diesel engine, and planning to get a new vehicle, then opt for an EV as you can use the EVs for daily purposes like grocery shopping and office going - basically trips when you exactly know the source and destination and thereby can avoid the range anxiety.

• All public transport can run on electricity and I think EVs can find their perfect Product-Market fit. For instance, take public buses where you exactly know the travel distance and time, and they can charge them back at the destination spot while preparing for the next trip. And even the school buses which is a huge growing market in the US.