The worth of electric cars as the next big thing in the automobile industry around the world has been an area of debate for a long time. In pen and paper, the electric cars are deemed as fantastic eco friendly replacement for the combustion vehicles. However, the sale of Electrical Vehicles in the UK as well as the rest of the world has not been as much as expected. Despite a rapid spread of general awareness towards the diminishing oil resources and the corresponding deterioration of the global oil reserves around the globe, majority of the drivers in the UK as well as the rest of the world still deem petrol and diesel as their preferred fuel choices for their cars.
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The Range Factor
A number of reasons can be deduced for the failure of electric cars sales. For motorists who cover long distances in their cars on a daily basis, the fear of the car battery falling flat in the middle of nowhere plays a prominent role in the decision of continuing to purchase and drive cars powered by petrol and diesel. EVs can render an average of 100 miles which is deemed to be insufficient by numerous motorists in the UK as petrol or diesel cars can render a range 300-400 miles. Electric cars are great when it comes to running errands and faults short of the real worth of a car i.e. the sense of freedom to drive anywhere for any time as much as one desired.
On a 480 volt, it takes up to 30 minutes to recharge electric cars completely, which is still a lot of time considering the modern times where it takes only 5 minutes to refuel with petrol or diesel.
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Absence of an adequate charging infrastructure
In spite of the Government providing a subsidy of £5000 until 2015 and installing more than 7000 charging points across UK, it is to be noted that most of the potential EV consumers belong to cities. Given that numerous cars in the cities are parked on streets and sidewalks instead of garages enabled with a plug point makes it impossible for motorists to charge their vehicles overnight.
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Cost of the Electrical Vehicles
In spite of incorporating the latest battery technologies and bringing down the cost of the EVs considerably, the cost of the Electrical Vehicles is still competitive compared to the petrol or diesel cars which make the consumers unsure about investing their money on electric cars.
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Price of Electric Vehicle
As long as the government offered the subsidy, the prices of electric cars were competitive as compared to some of the most popular fuel efficient liquid fuel cars in the UK making the electric vehicles a viable option for the consumer. With the government’s decision to remove the facility following raised sales of the electric vehicles and the manufacturers being unable to research and innovate to keep prices at their optimum best, the price factor hugely hinders the sale of electric cars.
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Reservations against the electric technology
Fossil fuels have earned such a conventional novelty that consumers are not yet ready to venture out of their comfort zones into driving a technology they have no idea about. They perceive electric cars as complex machinery and are generally not open to experimenting. Their reservations arise from the unproven aspect of the EV technology.
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The Environment Factor
Electric cars are produced from coal power plants in china which emit equivalent pollutants in air as petrol or diesel cars. Pollution from these plants in shanghai is projected to be three times worse than effects already caused by liquid fuel cars. The nickel hydride batteries present in the electric vehicles are composed of possible carcinogens, according to recent resources. The battery construction process is completed by shipping these materials all around the world which contribute to air pollution. Once the electric car has run out of life, disposing these batteries will also be a concern because of the accumulated toxins within. Any form of incorrect disposal could destroy our ecosystem for generations all together. And although the battery has seen much innovation, it is still way beyond the liquid fuel batteries.
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Anticipation for better electric cars with improved technology
The technology for electric cars is ever improving. The strive to provide better mileage with single charging along with introducing upbeat and fast ways of charging are some of the factors which needs dire attention. Numerous automobile manufacturers have introduced revolutionary electric car models and ascertained that the electric cars are here to stay, however none of these cars could leave a long lasting impact in the minds of the common people. Therefore, the automobile consumers in the UK believe that the electric cars are yet to ‘get there’ to give competition to their liquid fuel contemporaries.
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Prejudice of the New Drivers
New drivers who have just passed their driving test would naturally have aversions towards a perceived unknown technology of the electric cars and would prefer to go ahead with what they have learnt so far.
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The design of the EVs
The flat boxy design of most of the electric cars hinders their aesthetic appeal as a result numerous car drivers prefer to use their money on a vehicle which looks good and feels great to drive. Much innovation is needed in the designing aspect of the electric cars in order to make them look modern and stylish.
The future of the electric vehicles will be brighter as long as the costs of the vehicles are brought down enough to compete with the liquid fuel cars. Even to this day, motorists in the UK can afford fuel efficient petrol or diesel cars at a cost much lesser than electric cars. Also, the range anxiety is one of the biggest concerns which is steadily pulling down the net worth of the electric cars. Let’s hope that the future brings sufficient improvement and innovation and is able to instill the confidence of owning electric cars in the minds of the UK motorists.
